MUMBAI: Tata Steel Ltd’s net profit rose four-fold to Rs 1,294 crore for the quarter ended December, 2017 against Rs 294 crore achieved during the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 20.8 per cent at Rs 33,447 crore, while operating margins expanded to 17 per cent from 13.1 per cent last year. Gross debt fell by Rs 1,658 crore owing to repayments and forex gains. As on December, 2017, debt stood at Rs 88,601 crore.
The surge in profit was partly on account of lower base after the company sold its unprofitable assets in the UK and merged its European operations with Thyssenkrupp AG and comes at a time when the company is eyeing acquisition of distressed assets and double production capacity from the current 13 million tonnes.
Tata Steel is in race to buy distressed assets and placed bids for Electrosteel Steels Ltd, Bhushan Steel Ltd and Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd.
Meanwhile, crude steel production grew 4 per cent to 3.27 million tonnes over the previous quarter, while deliveries grew by 10 per cent on YoY basis to 3.30 million tonnes, which is higher than the steel consumption growth in India.