India's SAIL posts rise in first-quarter profit on lower costs, strong domestic demand

Steel Authority of India

25/07/2025 17:21

July 25 (Reuters) - Steel Authority of India SAIL.NS reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Friday, helped by a marginal rise in steel prices due to a temporary tariff imposed on some imports, easing input costs and strong domestic demand.

The state-owned company's consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax more than doubled year-on-year to 9.68 billion rupees ($111.90 million) during the quarter ended June 30.

The company recorded a one-time cost of 3.12 billion rupees a year ago.

Its revenue from operations rose 8% to 259.22 billion rupees.

KEY CONTEXT

Last week, JSW Steel JSTL.NS, India's top steelmaker by market capitalisation, beat profit estimates on the back of higher prices and easing input costs.

India had imposed a 12% temporary tariff on some steel imports in April to help domestic mills, which have been under pressure from low-cost shipments from China. That moderated finished steel imports into the country and prompted domestic steelmakers to bridge the supply gap, boosting the metal's prices.

Costs of iron ore and coking coal — key steelmaking raw materials — dropped in the quarter, analysts said, helping the bottom line of the mills.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 months)
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Revenue growth (%)
Profit growth (%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
Steel Authority of India
SAIL.NS
14.45
7.05
5.58
27.36
Hold
9
1.14
1.48
JSW Steel
JSTL.NS
17.88
9.15
12.88
98.61
Hold
31
0.98
0.27
Tata Steel
TISC.NS
14.80
7.67
6.99
101.70
Buy
30
1.00
2.21
Jindal Steel And Power
JNSP.NS
14.65
8.18
15.40
46.49
Buy
26
1.02
0.20

* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 86.5060 Indian rupees

APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE https://tmsnrt.rs/3GGg9t1

 (Reporting by Manvi Pant and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru;)

 ((Manvi.Pant@thomsonreuters.com; +918447554364;))