Though the lockdown devastated the economy all over the world, SAIL found it as a time to foster and channelize all its energies with a determination to surmount the obstacles. Indeed, it showed how well it could surmount all obstacles by way of impressive Q2 performance.
India’s steel giant Steel Authority of India (SAIL), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Steel reported an impressive financial performance in the second quarter of the financial year 2020-21. It posted a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 610.32 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 393.32 crore against in the quarter against the loss of Rs 523.03 crore at gross level and Rs 342.84 crore at the net level in the same period last year. The turnover grew 20 per cent at Rs 16834.1 crore, This reflects a strong rebound in its overall performance and its resilience. This is also an indicator of India’s economic revival from the adverse impact of the lockdown.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) soared 58.7% at Rs 2098.09 crore. As the Steel Ministry has put it the company has determinedly faced every odd thrown at it by the lockdown and performed exceptionally well by maintaining the sales growth momentum since June 2020. After the first two months of the FY ’21, which were impacted by the pandemic, the cumulative performance has been largely made up by consistently better performance since then.
With the strategic focus on enhancing the saleable steel production, the company registered the best saleable steel Q2 production of 3.752 MT in Q2 FY ’21 surpassing the previous best of 3.658 MT achieved during Q2 FY’18. The saleable steel production in Q2 FY’21 grew five per cent over the same period of the previous year. The focus on operational efficiency also resulted in improvement in the key techno-economic parameters during Q2 FY’21.
“The year began with unforeseeable challenges, which had engulfed the entire world. It was a time to foster synergy and channelize all our energy and determination to surmount the obstacles and prove our mettle,” says Anil Kumar Chaudhary. Indeed, the company showed how well it could surmount all obstacles. The company has determined to perform better in future and is geared up to take all necessary actions to remain a world-class domestic steel producer towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat, he adds.
