Hit by lower sales and higher input cost, the country's largest steel maker, SAIL, today posted a 27.74 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 1,326.09 crore for the first quarter of the current fiscal.
"Lower sales realisation and higher input cost led to the fall in our profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal," SAIL Chairman S K Roongta told reporters here.
The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) had a net profit of about Rs 1,835 crore in the same period a year ago.
However, he said the company undertook measures to remain efficient which led to a saving of Rs 570 crore in the reporting period and the steel firm has a positive outlook for the coming quarters.
"The overall demand scenario in India is encouraging," he said, adding "there is an upward bias for increasing flat product prices and downward bias on the long products".
The company may take a decision on prices in a day or two, Roongta added.
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In July, the company cut the prices of long products, used mainly by construction firms, by up to Rs 2,000 a tonne. SAIL had rolled back the Rs 500-750 a tonne rebate offered to dealers for flat steel products.
Roongta said the company saw production and consumption growing by about five per cent each in the first quarter and expect to clock output and sales of over 10 per cent each in July alone, but he did not give any specific figures.