OREANDA-NEWS. JSPL braving the challenge of virtual nil growth in steel industry; sagging power demand & merchant rates and additional burden of depreciation & interest costs caused by major capacity expansion projects undertaken during 2013-14, put up an impressive performance during Q3 FY14.

JSPL Consolidated turnover during Q3FY14 grew by 8% and 12% compared to Q2FY14 and Q3FY13 respectively. The company's Profit after Tax (PAT) recorded an increase of 23% over the previous quarter but was lower by 36% compared to the same quarter last year. EBITDA levels in Q3 FY14 increased to 31.6% compared to 29.2% in Q2 FY14.

JSPL (Standalone) saw its volume grow by 4% over Q3 FY13, while in value terms its turnover marginally dropped by 1% due to a changed product mix. Steel Business's Net Price Realization increased by 2.5% and 4% over Q3 FY13 and Q2 FY14 respectively. The Q3 FY14 PAT of JSPL (Standalone) increased by 42% compared to the previous quarter this year but it fell short of the same quarter in FY13 by 30% due to increased burden of interest & depreciation of the recently commissioned Angul Steel Plant.

The Company maintained its tempo of growth in both exports and retail business. While exports in Q3 FY14 grew by 9% in volume terms, retail business grew by a whopping 78% compared to the previous quarter. The Company by the end of December 2013 has spread its distributor network to cover the entire country and had appointed 41 distributors & 875 dealers.

During Q3 FY14 JSPL further commissioned new downstream units and introduced several new product lines. The Company intends to take capital upgradation work at its Raigarh facility during Q4 FY14. Production and dispatches from the Steel Melt Shop (SMS) and Plate Mill in Angul also witnessed major growth. The Company's continued focus on “Capital Efficiency” programme saw impressive reduction in inventories which dropped to all time low and debtors decline by 20% compared to Q2 FY14.

Jindal Power Ltd (JPL), JSPL Group's subsidiary saw another quarter of high operational performance with PLF at 95.8% compared to 81% of Q3FY13. JPL's turnover and PAT increased by 9% and 4% respectively over Q3 FY13. It also completed the second 600 MW unit of Tamnar Phase II and is all set to complete the third unit before March 31, 2014.

JSPL acquired a majority stake in NRE - Gujarat (GNRE), a company based in Australia producing Prime Quality Hard Coking coal, which will further enhance JSPL's input material security. Integration of GNRE however negatively impacted JSPL's PAT by Rs 68.69 Crores.

JSPL Global Ventures with the exception of Gujarat NRE, performed well with revenue in Q3 growing by 71% compared to the same quarter in FY13. Company's Oman unit sold a record quantity of nearly 500,000 MT of HBI which was 48% higher than the volume sold in Q3 FY13. Oman operations' turnover in Q3 FY14 at USD 171 million was 45% higher than Q3 FY13. Production volume of Anthracite (ROM) in JSPL's South African mines increased by 21% on Q3 to Q3 basis.

JSPL's Angul Steel project remains on track, although small delays were caused due to external interference with the execution of water supply works. 1st Phase of Angul Project will be fully ready before the end of Feb 2014. New Pelletization plant of 4.5 MPTA is progressing well and will go into commercial production by the end of Feb 2014.