BackThe Mint Report for 25 May 2011
The Mint Report for 25 May 2011
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Tata Steel is seeing a firming up of its earnings. At a time when the metals industry worldwide is under pressure from higher raw material costs, Tata Steel has eked out a profit, thanks to demand from the auto sector. The company’s net profit for the fourth quarter surged 71.6% to Rs4,117 crore. Tata Steel’s numbers were helped by stronger volumes in India and better margins in Europe. Besides, it recently said it would reduce capacity at a UK plant and cut 1,500 jobs in that country.
Also in earnings, the ground has slipped away from under DLF. India’s biggest real estate company posted its worst profit in two years, largely because of higher costs. DLF’s fourth quarter profit fell 19% to Rs345 crore on a year-on-year basis. Sales on the other hand, climbed 35% to Rs2,680 crore. DLF said it made a one-time re-set charge of 475 crores to account for higher costs of both raw material and labour. Prices of inputs ranging from steel to cement have been rising over the last several months because of inflation. Shares of DLF declined 4.04% on the BSE to Rs210 on a day the Sensex lost 0.9%.
Indian markets may have made modest gains on Tuesday, but they were back in the red in the next trading session. DLF’s losses, poor volumes, and weak global equities all made their mark on Wednesday. The Sensex tumbled 165 points to 17,847. And the Nifty fell 46 to 5,349.
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