JSPL Q2 net profit down 49.62%

New Delhi: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) reported a 49.62% fall in consolidated net profit for the three months ended 30 September due to subdued demand for steel and the rupee’s rapid depreciation, managing director and chief executive Ravi Uppal said at a media briefing.

Consolidated net profit dropped to Rs452.07 crore from Rs897.28 crore in the same quarter last year, while net sales increased 7.43% to Rs4,949.03 crore, JSPL said in a filing to BSE Ltd.

Overall sales volume increased 17% year-on-year and exports grew 38%, the company said.

Realization has stabilized now after a turbulent monsoon quarter and “it must look up” now, said Uppal. “A rise of Rs1,500-2,000 per tonne is good enough,” he said.

The company plans to curtail its inventory to 325,000 tonnes by the end of the year from 540,000 tonnes on 1 January.

On the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) inquiry in the Amarkonda Murugadangal coalfield allocated to the firm, Uppal said the company has been fully cooperating with the agency and that the probe won’t impact it. “For us, it’s business as usual,” he said.

Shares of the company ended Wednesday at Rs239.70 on the BSE, down 0.37%, while India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.5% to 21,033.97 points.