India-headquartered steel giant Tata Steel Group has announced its group financial results, including Tata Steel Europe, for the fourth quarter and the full financial year 2019-20 ended March 31, 2020.
Accordingly, Tata Steel Group recorded a net loss of INR 12.36 billion ($163.57 million) in the fourth quarter, compared to a net profit of INR 23.53 billion in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. The group's fourth quarter sales revenues amounted to INR 337.7 billion ($4.47 billion), decreasing by 20.4 percent year on year. The group’s EBITDA totaled INR 46.69 billion ($617.92 million) in the given quarter, falling by 39.8 percent year on year.
In the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-20, Tata Steel Group’s consolidated steel deliveries amounted to 6.5 million mt, down 13.6 percent year on year.
In the full financial year 2019-20, Tata Steel’s net profit amounted to INR 23.37 billion ($309.32 million), down 74.6 percent year on year. In the period in question, the group’s sales revenues totaled INR 1.4 trillion ($18.53 billion), down by 11.3 percent year on year. In the same period, the company’s consolidated steel deliveries decreased by 0.4 percent to 26.68 million mt.
According to the statement by the company, steel demand was affected by the coronavirus pandemic both in India and Europe and the company expects steel demand in the EU to recover only in 2021. The company stated that in June the company’s Indian plants are operating at 80 percent of capacity after the lifting of the lockdown measures in the country, while plants in Europe are running at 70 percent of capacity.
Tata Steel CEO and managing director T V Narendran said, “While the economy began recovering in the second half, the coronavirus pandemic in end March led to unprecedented disruption and economic uncertainty.” He also added that the company has recalibrated its operations in line with the evolving business environment and is focused on conserving cash.
$1 = INR 75.5635