MUMBAI: Tata Steel has reported a higher than estimated 155% rise in net profit at Rs 1,191 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 when compared with Rs 466 crore during the same quarter in the previous fiscal.

Total sales of the company for the reporting quarter grew by 33% to Rs 6,607 crore as against Rs 4,735 crore recorded in the corresponding period a year ago.

HIGHLIGHTS

Net profit up 155% at Rs 1,191 cr vs Rs 466 cr
Sales up 33% at Rs 6,307 cr vs Rs 4,735 cr
EBITDA up 48% at Rs 2,089 cr vs Rs 1,411 cr
EBITDA Margin up 332 bps to 33.13% from 29.81%

Profit beat Rs 980 crore median estimate of BloombergUTV
Reported first quarterly profit increase in current financial year
Sales increased on higher demand from auto makers & builders
Volume sales rise 49% to 1.6 mn million tonne in Dec quarter
Steel consumption up 7.7% in April-December period
Consumption in infrastructure boosted sales
Govt plans to spend $8.95 bn in FY10 on road & power plants

Expansion Plan
3 mn tonne volume likely to start flowing though 2H FY2012
Volume growth should result in steep net debt reduction over FY13-14
Analysts expect India ops should achieve lower EBITDA/tonne on overcapacity in flat products

Growth Triggers
Brokerages expect Corus to return to operational profitability from Dec 2009 qtr
Corus mgmt had recently revised downwards the FY11 profitability estimate
Cost push driven steel prices likely to be positive for India operations

Equity Issuance
Taken board approval to raise up to Rs 5,000 equity cap
Company expects to raise equity sometime this year