Steel Authority of India Ltd.'s third-quarter profit slumped, missing estimates, on staff costs and higher coking coal prices.
Net profit of the state-run steelmaker dropped 66% sequentially to Rs 1,443.1 crore in the three months to December, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 2,325-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
SAIL: Q3 FY22 Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue down 5.9% at Rs 25,245.9 crore, against the Rs 26,355-crore forecast.
Operating profit declined 51% to Rs 3,410.4 crore, compared with the projected Rs 4,638 crore.
Margin contracted to 13.5% from 26.2%. Analysts had pegged it at 17.6%.
During the quarter, the company implemented revised salaries and wages, effective April 1, 2020, after the expiry of long-term wage agreements with employees on Dec. 31, 2016, the filing said. The employees benefit expenses charged to the statement of profit and loss (net off provision for wage revision) for the quarter stood at Rs 46.97 crore.
Another Rs 425.74 crore was charged to the statement of profit and loss on account of revised actuarial valuation of employees-related liabilities owing to implementation of wage revision.
Besides, an exceptional item of Rs 363.92 crore for the quarter included a compensation on voluntary retirement of employees paid amounting to Rs 103.70 crore.
Shares of SAIL had closed 1.37% higher before the results were announced late on Wednesday, compared with a 1.14% gain in the benchmark Nifty 50.
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