BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s JSW Steel on Friday reported a near-65% fall in fourth-quarter profit as softer steel prices and higher costs hurt earnings.
The country’s largest steelmaker said consolidated net profit declined year-on-year to 12.99 billion rupees ($155.9 million) for the three months ended March 31, making this the company’s first quarterly profit fall after three straight quarters of gain.
Domestic steel prices contracted in the quarter amid weak demand in China as the world’s top producer and consumer of the metal grappled with concerns in its property sector.
While costs of key raw materials for steelmakers, iron ore and coking coal rose in the quarter, leading to higher expenses and further pressuring the company’s bottomline.
Total revenue from operations fell 1.5% to 462.69 billion rupees, while a 2.9% surge in expenses was led by a rise in input costs.
The company also named Swayam Saurabh as its Chief Financial Officer. Saurabh is already the CFO designate and will take over the role from June 1, JSW Steel said in a statement.
Shares of the company closed 1.7% higher ahead of results.
($1 = 83.3129 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.