According to a report by Indiabulls, “the company sells power on merchant basis through short-term PPAs; such agreements command high realisations of around Rs.5–8 per unit.”On a standalone basis (the steel business), while net sales grew by Rs.76.46 billion (a growth of 41.7%), net profits grew by a relatively modest 21.7% yoy to Rs.15.36 billion. This is still far better than what most steel players have faced. Vikrant Gujaral comments on the situation, “We were among the early risers to the deteriorating conditions. However, since JSPL’s product range includes both long and flat products we were well placed to optimize our product mix in consort with changing market realities...” Also, the company relies a lot on the domestic market, where demand has continued to grow irrespective of recession (exports were only 13% of turnover); so they did not need to cut production. The report by Indiabulls further credits the good numbers to the 35.8% yoy increase in the average sales realisation of saleable steel.
Moreover, while a lot of steel companies were looking at horizontal integration as their strategic priority, JSPL has been looking at things differently. Gujaral puts it across thus, “No company in our space can hope to survive without robust backward integration. JSPL has always believed in this and assiduously built dedicated sources for key raw materials (ore, power and coal) in keeping with the integrated steel producer model...” The company has indeed believed in consistent investment, while maintaining a significantly low debt-equity ratio of around 0.8. However, with respect to Q1, 2009-10, the company saw a standalone fall in Net Profit after tax on standalone basis by 25% to Rs.3 billion due to low steel prices. Again, power business is helping them ride the cycle, as consolidated PAT rose by 123% to Rs. 9.88 billion. As steel prices begin their up cycle, the situation should further improve. According to Gujaral, “There are encouraging signs of demand picking up. Prices have increased by about 8-10 per cent in the domestic market and 7 to 8 per cent globally.” However, he admits that the recovery is still some distance away.
Moreover, while a lot of steel companies were looking at horizontal integration as their strategic priority, JSPL has been looking at things differently. Gujaral puts it across thus, “No company in our space can hope to survive without robust backward integration. JSPL has always believed in this and assiduously built dedicated sources for key raw materials (ore, power and coal) in keeping with the integrated steel producer model...” The company has indeed believed in consistent investment, while maintaining a significantly low debt-equity ratio of around 0.8. However, with respect to Q1, 2009-10, the company saw a standalone fall in Net Profit after tax on standalone basis by 25% to Rs.3 billion due to low steel prices. Again, power business is helping them ride the cycle, as consolidated PAT rose by 123% to Rs. 9.88 billion. As steel prices begin their up cycle, the situation should further improve. According to Gujaral, “There are encouraging signs of demand picking up. Prices have increased by about 8-10 per cent in the domestic market and 7 to 8 per cent globally.” However, he admits that the recovery is still some distance away.
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