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Informist, Friday, May 15, 2026

By Astha Oriel 

NEW DELHI –  Tata Steel Ltd. Friday reported a sharp year-on-year rise in its consolidated bottom line for the March quarter on significant expansion of its operating margin. The net profit was, however, below analysts' consensus estimate because of a one-time cost. Without the exceptional item, the company's profit would have beaten the Street's estimate by a wide margin. Tata Steel's top line for Jan-Mar was the highest in 15 quarters, witnessing a moderate year-on-year rise and beating the average of analysts' estimates comfortably.

The company reported a rise of nearly 125% on year in its consolidated net profit to INR 29.26 billion. The net profit in the year-ago quarter was INR 13.01 billion. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of a year-on-year rise in the company's net profit. The company incurred a one-time cost of INR 3.40 billion. Without the one-time cost, the net profit would have been INR 32.66 billion, above the consensus estimate of INR 30.98 billion. The one-time cost includes an employee separation scheme in India & restructuring provision in the Netherlands partly offset by proceeds from the sale of a ferro alloy asset at Jajpur in Odisha, the company said in its investor presentation.

Tata Steel's revenue from operations for the quarter rose over 12% on year to INR 626.87 billion, higher than the consensus estimate of INR 619.06 billion. This was the third consecutive quarter of a year-on-year increase in the company's revenue from operations. Sequentially, the company's net profit grew nearly 9% and revenue nearly 11%.

The increase in revenue was driven by higher steel realisations in India and improved volumes in India and the Netherlands, the company said in the presentation. Its total income for the quarter rose over 12% on year to INR 635.19 billion. The other income, however, declined more than 46% on year to INR 2.49 billion.

The steel major's total expenses for the reporting quarter rose 8% on year to INR 585.02 billion. The cost of materials consumed accounted for nearly 34% of the total expenses. The company said raw material costs moved up primarily driven by an increase in coking coal consumption cost in India and purchase of substrate in the UK. The company's employee benefits expense rose more than 11% on year to INR 66.98 billion. The expense related to purchases of stock-in-trade, however, declined by more than 11% on year to INR 45.53 billion.

The company's other expenses grew over 9% to INR 205.72 billion in the March quarter "primarily on account of higher power & fuel, repairs & maintenance partly offset by decline in royalty related expenses", it said. However, the expenses pertaining to change in inventories of finished and semi-finished goods, stock-in-trade, and work-in-progress declined by more than 28% on year to INR 19.53 billion "driven by inventory drawdown at Netherlands as against a build-up in the March quarter", the company said.

The steel major's tax outgo for the March quarter increased nearly 85% on year to INR 18.45 billion.  More