The largest stainless steel producer in the nation, Jindal Stainless (JSL), has set aside Rs 2,500 crore in capital for FY24, which will be mostly utilized to complete its recent acquisitions. In addition, the business wants to rank among the top three stainless steel producers outside of China.
JSL made plans to invest $157 million in March to purchase a 49% share in New Yaking, an Indonesian producer of nickel, a crucial component in the creation of stainless steel. The first half of this fiscal year will also see the completion of JSL’s planned acquisition of an additional 74% ownership in JUSL, a group company in which it already owns a 26% stake.
“The objective is unquestionably to rank among the top 2-3 stainless steel producers worldwide. Depending on the state of the market, it might occur within the next few years or maybe in the next four to five. We need to build an additional 1-1.5 MTPA to get there, but we are already very close, according to its MD Abhyuday Jindal.
JSL reported a 20% decrease in consolidated net profit at Rs 716 crore for the quarter ended in March, as compared to a net profit of ‘895 crore recorded during the same quarter a year ago, which was hit by the export taxes placed on steel last year. Its total operating revenue increased to Rs 9,765 crore from Rs 9,726 crore in the same period last year.
We often sell 20–30% of our production to India because it is a developing market, but this time we sold it there instead. Additionally, we moved into some poor margin markets that we typically avoid serving, according to Jindal.
A debt financing of Rs 5,000 crore was also approved by the company’s board, and the board also proposed a final dividend of Rs 1.50 per share for FY23, bringing the total dividend payment to Rs 2.50. The FY23 dividends are the first to be announced in the previous 15 years.
The company’s overall net profit increased 40% from Rs 513 crore on a sequential basis, while revenues increased 8% from Rs 9,063 crore in the December quarter.
