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Tata Steel gains after UK unit approaches ACAS to resolve pension dispute

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Last Updated : Jun 15 2015 | 11:01 AM IST

Tata Steel rose 0.30% to Rs 298.65 at 10:42 IST on BSE after the company said that Tata Steel UK has approached Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in new initiative to resolve pension dispute.

The announcement was made yesterday, 14 June 2015.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 87.13 points, or 0.33%, to 26,512.43.

On BSE, so far 1.58 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 7.57 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 300.30 and a low of Rs 296.55 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 573.90 on 25 July 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 293.30 on 9 June 2015.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 12 June 2015, sliding 15.69% compared with 1.68% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 10.69% as against Sensex's 8.66% fall.

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The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 971.22 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Tata Steel UK has launched a new initiative in its efforts to resolve the pension dispute with its UK trade unions. The company has approached ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) to help facilitate the next phase in talks between the parties.

Unions in UK recently notified plans to take industrial action in dispute over the Tata Steel UK's proposals to revise the British Steel Pensions Scheme's contribution and benefits framework. Industrial action, consisting of an overtime ban and a work to rule, is currently scheduled to start tomorrow, 16 June 2015, with a one-day strike planned for 22 June 2015.

Tor Farquhar, Executive Director of Human Resources at Tata Steel's European operations, said that the company has contacted ACAS to bring in independent expertise in mediating a resolution to the UK pension dispute. The company has requested ACAS to immediately approach the National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee to ask them to attend talks.

Farquhar added that the company has been talking to the trade unions since November 2014 to develop a fair and sustainable pension scheme for all UK employees. The company and unions agree that changes need to be made to tackle the scheme's projected shortfall of up to 2 billion pounds. It remains the company's intention to provide a high quality and competitive pension scheme for its employees while continuing Tata Steel's significant record of investing in its UK assets so it can build a sustainable business here, Farquhar said.

Tata Steel is Europe's second largest steel producer, with steelmaking in the UK and Netherlands, and manufacturing plants across Europe.

ACAS provides collective conciliation services to help employers and employees' representatives (Trade Unions) to reach agreement on a range of issues affecting groups of employees.

Tata Steel reported consolidated net loss of Rs 5674.29 crore in Q4 March 2015 compared with consolidated net profit of Rs 1035.87 crore in Q4 March 2014. Total income dropped 20.5% to Rs 33808.61 crore in Q4 March 2015 over Q4 March 2014.

Tata Steel Group is among the top-ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of nearly 30 million tonnes per annum. It is now the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer.

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First Published: Jun 15 2015 | 10:37 AM IST

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