JSW Steel posts massive 18-fold hike in consol Q4 PAT at Rs 4,198 cr

Top line up 51% to Rs 26,456 cr; last year's Q4 profit was just Rs 231 cr

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel reported a lower-than-expected consolidated net profit attributable to the owners of the company at Rs 4,198 crore in the March quarter, as against a meager Rs 231 crore clocked in the corresponding period last year.

The company’s top line in the period under review stood at Rs 26,456 crore, up 51 per cent from the same period last year lent support to the bottomline. The company’s saleable steel sales during the quarter were up 11 per cent year-on-year at 4.06 million tonne.

Higher sales volumes up by 10 per cent year-on-year, higher value added steel volumes up 37 per cent year-on-year and increase in net sales realization of up 39 per cent year-on-year pushed up the topline.

Global recovery also helped exports pick up in the period under review for domestic operations, which went up 21 per cent year-on-year as against 10 per cent in preceding quarter.

As per Bloomberg estimates, the company’s net sales were seen at Rs 26,009 crore in the quarter gone by, while the net profit was expected to be at Rs 4,324 crore.

Though the demand went up in the fourth quarter, emergence of a second wave of Covid-19 in the country has dampened sentiment due to widespread localized lockdowns in several parts of India, said the company.

The company’s operating EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 8,021 crore on standalone basis, up 149 per cent from same period last year with an EBITDA margin of 32.9 per cent led by enhanced spreads, favourable product mix and continued upward trend in steel prices.

Exceptional items for the quarter and year ended 31 March 2021 represents impairment provision of Rs 83 crore relating to the US coal business towards the value of Property, plant and equipment and Goodwill on the basis of values determined by independent external valuers using cash flow projections of respective businesses and assets.

The company's consolidated net gearing (net debt/equity) stood at l.14x at the end of the quarter (vs. l.48x at the end of 4QFY2020) and net debt/EBITDA stood at 2.6lx (vs. 4.50x at the end of 4Q FY2020). The debt has come down by Rs 858 crore even after spending on capex expenditure/ acquisitions aggregating to around Rs 15,000 crore during FY 2021, said the company.

For FY22,  the company’s combined crude steel volume guidance stands at 22.94 million tonne, while sales stands at 21.63 million tonne.