Visa Steel increases its revenues in Q1 FY 2011-12

Indian steelmaker Visa Steel, a subsidiary of India's VISA group, announced on July 26 that in the first quarter (ended June 30) of the fiscal year 2011-2012 its revenue grew by 62.30 percent to Rupees 3.672 billion ($83.39 million) over the same quarter of the fiscal year 2010-2011. Visa Steel also reported a 33 percent rise in profit after tax at Rupees 101 million ($0.23 million) for the first quarter ended June 30, over the corresponding period in the last fiscal year. In the period in question, Visa Steel produced 94,128 mt of coke, 4,963 mt of ferrochrome, 34,992 mt of hot metal and 37,571 mt of sponge iron. Commenting on the performance of the company, VISA Steel’s managing director Vishal Agarwal said “Our financial performance during Q1 FY 2011-12 registered a sharp growth in sales revenue due to increase in price realization and production volumes.” He indicated that lower operating margins were due to higher cost of raw material such as coking coal, iron ore and chrome ore. He also added that VISA BAO Ltd, a joint venture between VISA Steel and major Chinese steelmaker Baosteel, which is setting up a ferrochrome plant at Kalinganagar in the Indian state of Orissa, has made significant progress towards implementation of the project and expects to commission the plant in phases from March 2012 onwards.