State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) on Monday reported a 22 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 422.92 crore for the quarter ended in December 2023 due to lower income.
The steel maker had posted a net profit of Rs 542.18 crore during the October-December period of 2022-23.
The company's total income fell to Rs 23,492.33 crore in the third quarter of FY24 from Rs 25,140.16 crore a year ago, according to an exchange filing by the company.
Expenses stood at Rs 23,140.81 in the reporting quarter as against Rs 24,825.11 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal.
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The Board of Directors has also declared an interim dividend of Re 1 per equity share for FY24 and set February 20 as record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.
In a statement, SAIL Chairman Amarendu Prakash said, "The consistent efforts by the company towards increasing its volumes have had a positive impact on the financial performance despite the significant decline in the price realization during the quarter."
The company remains steadfast in its commitment towards sustainable performance including emphasis on de-carbonisation, improving capacity utilization, value addition, enhanced digitalization and achieving cost competitiveness, the official said.
SAIL said its crude steel production during the quarter was marginally higher at 4.75 million tonne (MT) compared to 4.71 MT in the year ago period.
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Its sales volume fell to 3.81 MT over 4.15 MT in October-December last fiscal.
On the suspension of two board-level officials for alleged violation of its code of conduct, SAIL said, "While the matter is currently under investigation by external investigative agencies as per directions of the Lokpal of India vide its order dated 10 January 2024, in view of the management, on the basis of their internal assessment, the matter is not likely to have a material impact on the operations of the company and/or these financial results."
The steel ministry in January suspended two board-level officials SAIL. Besides, SAIL suspended 26 other officials with immediate effect for violation of its code of conduct.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), under the Ministry of Steel, is the country's largest steel manufacturing entity having a total installed capacity of around 21 million tonnes.
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