JSW Steel’s consolidated net profit nearly halved in the March quarter from a year ago to `1,495 crore, as fuel and power costs soared while realisations dropped due to subdued steel prices. The net profit was in line with Bloomberg consensus estimates of about `1,487 crore.
Total expenses rose 13% year-on-year to `20,058 crore between January and March, thanks to a rupee depreciation that inflated the costs of imported inputs and consumables, and higher electrode and refractory costs. Power and fuel expenses stood at `3,507 crore and there was a substantial jump in changes in inventories of finished goods, work-in-progress and stock-in-grade to `1,694 crore in the March quarter from just `58 crore a year earlier. Meanwhile, the company’s realisations dropped 2% in the March quarter from a year earlier, as steel prices remained under pressure. As such, the domestic industry is bracing for higher steel dumping here by China, as Beijing’s trade war with Washington flares up.
