India's largest and the world's sixth largest steel producer, Tata Steel, has announced an increase of 28 percent in its net profit for the first quarter of the current Indian fiscal year, ended on June 30.
For the period in question, the company recorded a net profit of Rupees 12.22 billion ($302.55 million) against a net profit of Rupees 9.53 billion ($236.65 million) posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, its revenue rose by eight percent to Rupees 47.45 billion (approx. $1.18 billion) in the first quarter, compared with Rupees 38.99 billion ($953.31 million) for the same quarter last year.
Also, Tata Steel posted a foreign exchange net gain of Rupees 5.53 billion ($137.32 million) due to the appreciation of the rupee against foreign currencies during the first quarter of 2007.
However, during the first quarter the company's steel production dropped 3.9 percent to 1.06 million metric tons, while its sales decreased by seven percent to 1.04 million metric tons.
Tata Steel bought Corus Group for $13.2 billion in April 2007. The above results do not include the consolidated performance of the company. The consolidated results, including Corus, for the quarter ended June 30 are to be published by the end of August 2007.