India-headquartered steel giant Tata Steel Group has issued its group financial results including Tata Steel Europe for the fourth quarter and the full financial year ended March 31.
Tata Steel Group's net profit doubled to INR 10.36 billion ($174.5 million) in the fourth quarter, compared to the same quarter of the previous financial year. The group's fourth quarter sales increased by 15.5 percent year on year to INR 424.3 billion ($7.1 billion).
In the full financial year, Tata Steel achieved a net profit of INR 35.9 billion ($604.6 million), compared to a net loss of INR 70.6 billion in the previous financial year. The company's sales revenues increased by 11.35 percent year on year to INR 1.5 trillion ($25.2 billion).
During the financial year 2013-14, steel deliveries of the group amounted to 26.56 million mt, increasing by 10.07 percent year on year, with deliveries from the European operations rising by six percent and deliveries from the Indian operations up 14 percent, both compared to the previous financial year.
According to Tata Steel's statement, the revamped blast furnace in the UK together with improved reliability in Europe as a whole led to an increase in volumes compared to the previous year. Regarding Indian operations, several steelmaking facilities achieved their highest-ever production in the given financial year. The rolling facilities of the brownfield expansion at Jamshedpur reached their full capacity in the second half of last year and total steel production was the highest ever. To cater to the increased requirements, the iron ore mines ramped up and produced record quantities.
"Europe appears to be entering a phase of solid economic growth, which is supporting a recovery in steel demand. But EU steel use will remain at low levels historically against a background of continuing global overcapacity," said Dr Karl-Ulrich Kohler, CEO of Tata Steel in Europe.
