Steel pipe maker Jindal Saw today reported 37 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 39.24 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015.
The firm, part of the USD 18 billion OP Jindal Group, had a net profit of Rs 61.92 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income of the firm fell by 39 per cent to Rs 1,076.98 crore in the quarter under review this fiscal from Rs 1,777.43 crore during the same period in 2014-15.
The firm, however, managed to reduce its total expenses by 40 per cent to Rs 957.21 crore from Rs 1,600.98 crore during the third quarter.
Jindal Saw said its production and sales were "marginally softer" in the December quarter this fiscal compared to the July-September quarter in the same financial year.
In the third quarter, the company sold about 1.5 lakh tonnes of pipes and pig iron as well as 2.28 lakh tonnes of pellets with sales from India accounting for 94 per cent and the remaining from the overseas markets.
Jindal Saw's current order book for pipes and pellets stands at around USD 900 million. Its order book position in terms of volume is over 1.2 million tonnes, the highest in five years.
The company's net debt (standalone basis) stood at around Rs 4,807.5 crore (about USD 728 million) including external commercial borrowings, long term loans, fund based working capital and other unsecured loans.
This also includes working capital loans of around Rs 2,434.3 crore (about USD 369 million), which remained at an elevated level due to higher order book, inventory and receivables, etc, the firm said.
Shares of the company today fell by 0.70 per cent to settle at Rs 49.75 apiece at the BSE.
