Tata Steel clocks Rs 9,646 cr consolidated half-yearly net
The Economic Times — January 25, 2008

Tata Steel, India's largest private sector steel firm, on Thursday announced that it has recorded a consolidated net profit of Rs 9,645.6 crore on a total income of Rs 63,872 crore for the six months ended September 30, 2007.

The financial results of Corus have helped Tatas post a half-yearly profit more than double the company's annual profits of Rs 4,166 crore as of March 31, 2007. On a standalone basis, the company has posted a net profit of Rs 2,412 crore on a turnover of Rs 9,223 crore as of September 30, 2007.

The company's profit before exceptional items and taxes for the six months ended September 30 was Rs 5,483 crore against Rs 3,227 crore for the same period of the previous financial year, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Tata Steel's income from operations has gone up to Rs 63,872 crore against Rs 12,020 crore in the same period previous year. This is because Corus' income of Rs 49,809 crore was accounted for along with an increase of Rs 866 crore from Indian operations, Rs 1,237 crore in NatSteel and Rs 512 crore in Tata Steel, Thailand.

Similarly, the company's expenditure for the first six months increased to Rs 56,112 crore against 8,665 crore for the same period of the last financial year on account of inclusion of the Corus expenditure. The interest charges on borrowings to fund the Corus acquisition has increased interest expenditure to Rs 2,277 crore as of September 30, against Rs 128 crore during the previous year. Tata group has paid interest of Rs 1,934 crore for Corus group of companies, including financing SPVs.

The consolidated results include gain from exceptional items of Rs 6,354 crore, mainly comprising the actuarial gain on funds for employee benefits of Rs 5,971 crore.

The board of directors of the company will meet on January 31 to take on record the audited financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.