Posted on 30 Jul 2009
Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steelmaker, on Wednesday reported a near 47 percent fall in fiscal first-quarter profit, hit by lower commodity prices.
The company said net profit for the three months to June, excluding income from its British unit Corus Group, fell to 7.89 billion rupees (162 million dollars) from 14.88 billion rupees a year earlier.
Sales fell 8.7 percent to 56.15 billion rupees, the company said in a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange.
Analysts had forecast Tata Steel to show standalone profit of nine billion rupees for the June-end quarter.
The results do not include data from Anglo-Dutch group Corus, which the company bought in 2007 for 13.7 billion dollars. The consolidated earnings would be announced at the end of August, Tata Steel said.
The merged Tata Steel-Corus company plans to produce 25.6 million tonnes annually and command an increased market presence and a lower-cost advantage, the company said earlier.
Tata Steel shares fell 27.5 rupees or 5.77 percent to 441.9 intra-day Wednesday, after earnings were announced.
