JSW Steel shares rose over 1% to Rs 1,022.50 on the NSE during the early trade today after the company reported a 16% jump in consolidated net profit for the March quarter, primarily on the back of a fall in input costs. This is the first year-on-year profit growth in the last five quarters. However, revenue of the steel firm slipped 3% on year. According to reports most steelmakers have posted weaker topline due to falling steel prices amid muted demand and rise in cheap imports.
JSW Steel’s input costs for the quarter under review declined over 7% on year, offsetting the impact due to a fall in topline. Apart from this, a tax credit of Rs 547 crore also gave a leg-up to the earnings.
Steel Sales for the quarter stood at 7.49mn tonnes, higher by 12% quarter-on-quarter and 11% on year. Domestic sales were recorded at 6.72mn tonnes, up 12% sequentially and 30% on year. During the full FY25, JSW Steel sold 26.45mn tonnes of steel. The company expects the industry to grow 8-10% in FY26, while its volume will likely grow 10% in the said period.
The company said a better product mix resulted in a 5% on-year increase in sales volume of value-added special products. The share of value-added products in the total sales volume expanded 100 basis points to 62%, according to the investor presentation. Exports constituted 8% of sales from the Indian operations for the December quarter. In the year-ago quarter the share of exports was 20%.
JSW Steel, recently, experienced a setback in its acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code process as the Supreme Court ordered BPSL's liquidation after it nullified the acquisition process. However, the company has said that it sees legal remedies to the apex court judgment.
The flagship company of the JSW group also did not make any provisions related to the BPSL judgment in its balance sheet. It has sent demand notices to various creditors of BPSL for Rs 19,300 crore that it had paid for its resolution plan. The company has also asked for a 60 day-pause in BPSL's liquidation proceedings, according to media reports.
Morgan Stanley maintained its ‘equal-weight’ call on the stock with target price of Rs 1,000 apiece. Similarly, Macquarie also maintained its ‘overweight’ rating on the stock. Global business margin will likely improve in FY26 with better demand visibility and price hikes, the brokerage firm said. It has pegged Rs 1,034 as the target price for the stock.
