India-headquartered steel giant Tata Steel Group has issued its group financial results including Tata Steel Europe for the first half ended September 30 of the current Indian financial year.
Tata Steel Group's net income was INR 55.5 billion ($1.13 billion) in the six months ended September 30, compared to a profit of INR 38.04 billion in the first half of the financial year 2010-11. The group's consolidated turnover in the given period saw an increase of 17.8 percent year on year to INR 657.9 billion ($13.44 billion). Tata Steel Group's EBITDA in the period in question was $2.31 billion. The group's steel deliveries increased in the first half by 1.8 percent to 12.17 million mt.
According to the statement, deliveries from Tata Steel India and NatSteel Holdings increased, while Tata Steel Thailand's operations were adversely affected by weather conditions.
Commenting on the results, Tata Steel Group managing director HM Nerurkar said, "Tata Steel's Indian operations performed strongly despite the overall soft market situation. The continued interest rate hikes impacted steel demand growth, but the company sequentially increased sales volumes due to enhanced market reach and customer focus."
Tata Steel Europe managing director and CEO Dr Karl-Ulrich Köhler said "Higher raw material costs and lower average selling prices made the normally quiet summer quarter particularly testing. Despite these headwinds, Tata Steel in Europe succeeded in matching the delivery volumes achieved in Q1."