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Informist, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026

By Pallavi Singhal

NEW DELHI – State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd.'s net profit surged in the reporting quarter from a year ago on a low base and beat analysts' expectations, even as margin pressure persisted due to lower steel realisations and higher input costs. The company's revenue from operations rose on the back of higher sales volumes and was broadly in line with Street estimates.

SAIL reported a standalone net profit of INR 4.42 billion for Oct–Dec, compared with analysts' estimate of INR 3.39 billion. The company had posted a net profit of INR 1.26 billion in the year-ago period, resulting in a jump of over 251% on year. On a sequential basis, net profit rose around 4% from INR 4.27 billion in the September quarter.

Revenue from operations for the quarter stood at INR 273.71 billion, marginally higher than analysts' expectation of INR 273.20 billion. The company's revenue rose over 11% on year and about 2.5% sequentially to INR 273.7 billion.

SAIL's total expenditure rose to INR 271.35 billion in Oct–Dec, up around 10% on year from INR 245.64 billion, reflecting higher operating costs. Cost of materials consumed fell about 5% on year to INR 112.24 billion, while its purchase of stock-in-trade rose more than six times to INR 14.45 billion from INR 2.60 billion in the year-ago period.

Employee benefit expenses climbed over 4% to INR 28.43 billion from a year earlier, while finance costs declined 19% to INR 5.47 billion, compared with INR 6.79 billion in the year-ago quarter. Depreciation and amortisation expenses rose nearly 7% to INR 15.15 billion from INR 14.20 billion a year ago, reflecting sustained capital expenditure. The rise in operating expenses more than offset the benefit of higher revenue growth, weighing on margins.  

The steelmaker's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to INR 26.30 billion in the December quarter, up around 10% on year from INR 23.89 billion a year ago, aided by higher sales volumes. Sequentially, EBITDA declined from INR 28.29 billion in the September quarter, which showed margin compression.

During the quarter, crude steel production increased to 4.8 million tonnes, compared with 4.6 million tonnes in the year-ago period, while sales volumes rose to 5.1 million tonnes from 4.4 million tonnes a year earlier, supporting revenue growth in the period, the company said in its investor presentation.

For Apr–Dec, SAIL reported a net profit of INR 15.54 billion, compared with INR 9.70 billion in the year-ago period, marking an increase of about 60% on year. Revenue from operations for the nine-month period rose to nearly INR 8 billion, from INR 731.62 billion a year ago, up more than 9% on year.

The company released its results after market hours on Friday. Shares of SAIL closed nearly 4% lower at INR 151.13 on the National Stock Exchange. End

Edited by Deepshika Bharadwaj

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