JSW Steel’s expenses were lower at ₹38,644 crore in the quarter under review against ₹40,801 crore in the year-ago quarter. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Steelmaker JSW Steel on Friday (October 25, 2024) reported a steep fall of 85.43% in its consolidated net profit at ₹404 crore in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, affected by lower income.

The company had posted a net profit of ₹2,773 crore in the second quarter of the last financial year. “The total income decreased to ₹39,837 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal as against ₹44,821 crore a year ago,” JSW Steel said in a regulatory filing.

JSW Steel’s expenses were lower at ₹38,644 crore in the quarter under review against ₹40,801 crore in the year-ago quarter.

In a statement, the company said its net debt stood at ₹85,098 crore as of September 30, higher by ₹4,899 crore as against June 30 due to capex on ongoing expansion projects, acquisition of an effective stake of 20% in Illawarra coking coal asset and increase in working capital.

The company’s capex spend during Q2 FY25 stood at ₹3,384 crore and the total spend for H1 stood at ₹7,850 crore.

“We now expect consolidated capex for FY25 to be ₹16,000-17,000 crore as against the earlier estimate of ₹20,000 crore mainly due to the transfer of Slurry Pipeline project to JSW Infrastructure and rescheduling the BF-3 expansion to next year,” the company said.

The company produced 6.77 million tonnes (MT) of crude steel in July-September 2024, up 7% compared to 6.34 MT in the same quarter of FY23. Sales decreased by 4% to 5.96 MT in the quarter from 6.34 MT a year ago. Exports contributed 7% from India operations.

The exports at 0.39 million tonnes fell by 43% year-over-year (YoY) and 34% quarter on quarter (QoQ) due to elevated Chinese exports adversely affecting global markets.

The capacity utilisation at the Indian operations improved to 91% during the quarter, post-completion of planned maintenance shutdowns at Dolvi and subsidiary BPSL (Bhushan Power and Steel Limited) in the last quarter.

At the end of the September quarter, JSW Steel said net gearing (or net debt to equity) stood at 1.04 times as against 0.97 times at the end of Q1 FY25, and leverage (net debt to EBITDA) stood at 3.51 times, as against 3 times at the end of Q1 FY25.

During the quarter, JSW Steel surrendered Jajang Iron Ore mine located in the district of Keonjhar, Odisha, owing to operations being economically unviable. BPSL reported a loss of ₹93 crore for the quarter owing to the lower EBITDA. Revenue from Operations and Operating EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹4,900 crore and ₹431 crore, respectively.

The company commissioned all major facilities to expand its capacity from 3.5 MTPA to 4.5 MTPA, which is under ramp-up. Its crude steel production for the quarter stood at 0.82 million tonnes and Sales volume at 0.74 million tonnes.

JSW Steel Coated Products reported a net profit of ₹57 crore for the quarter. Revenue from operations stood at ₹7,695 crore, and EBITDA was ₹341 crore. The EBITDA is lower by 7% on QoQ basis mainly owing to lower realisations, partially offset by lower HRC (hot rolled coil) prices.

JSW Steel USA Ohio produced 1,56,137 net tonnes of slabs during the quarter. It reported an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) loss of $16.14 million for the quarter, mainly owing to lower sales realisation.

U.S. Plate & Pipe Mill in Texas, USA produced 1,08,969 net tonnes of Plates and 9,687 net tonnes of Pipes. It reported an EBITDA of $5.04 million, a lower QoQ owing to lower input slab cost not fully offsetting lower plate prices.

The Italy-based rolled long products manufacturing facility produced 83,376 tonnes and sold 78,921 tonnes of rolled products during the quarter. It reported an EBITDA of Euro 6.15 million for the quarter.

On October 18, Jsquare Electrical Steel Nashik, an arm of a 50:50 JV company of JSW Steel and JFE, announced it has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% equity shares of thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India (tkES) for ₹4,051.40 crore.