India-headquartered steel giant Tata Steel Group has issued its group financial results including Tata Steel Europe for the fourth quarter and the financial year 2012-13 ended March 31.
Tata Steel Group recorded a net loss of INR 65.3 billion ($1.17 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared to a net profit of INR 43.3 billion in the corresponding period of the financial year 2011-12, due to an impairment charge of $1.6 billion. The group's sales amounted to INR 341.8 billion ($6.13 billion), rising one percent year on year.
In the full financial year, Tata Steel Group registered a net loss of INR 70.57 billion ($1.26 billion), compared to a net profit of INR 53.9 billion in the previous financial year, while its sales slightly increased to INR 1.33 trillion ($23.8 billion) in the same period.
During the given financial year, steel deliveries of the group amounted to 24.13 million mt, decreasing slightly by 0.4 percent year on year, while the steel deliveries in the fourth quarter increased by 12.5 percent to 6.56 million mt, compared to the same quarter of the previous financial year.
According to Tata Steel Group, the euro zone crisis has pushed regional economies in Europe and the UK into a recession and the current steel demand is almost 30 percent lower than the pre-2008 financial crisis level. These severely depressed conditions are expected to continue over the short-to-medium term and have led to a downward revision of cash flow expectations and the valuation of the group's European operations. Reflecting these conditions, the group registered an impairment charge of $1.6 billion.
Tata Steel Group also stated that its 3 million mt per year expansion in Jamshedpur, India was successfully implemented, increasing its total capacity to 10 million mt per year. Full ramp-up of the capacity was achieved in March this year. Tata Steel Group is also launching the next stage of its growth program, setting up a 6 million mt per year steel project in Odisha.