Tata Steel Q3 net loss widens to Rs763 crore

Tata Steel registered its second straight quarterly loss with a net loss of Rs763 crore ($139 million) in October-December 2012, amidst weak demand and declining steel prices in the European market.

Amidst this, Tata Steel Europe, one of the biggest employers in Wales, has re-started production at its Port Talbot steel plant after spending £185 million in rebuilding a blast furnace, the most significant investment in the UK's largest steelworks (See: Tata Steel Europe restarts £185-mn blast furnace at Talbot in Wales).

The group had recorded a net loss of Rs364 crore ($66 million) in the second quarter of the current financial year (July-September 2012-13) and a loss of Rs603 crore ($110 million) in the October-December quarter of FY'12.

For the first nine months of the financial year 2012-13, Tata Steel Group reported an after-tax net loss (after minority interest and share of profit of associates) of Rs529 crore ($96 million), against a profit of Rs4,956 crore ($901 million) in April-December of the previous financial year.

The figure included one-off gains of Rs3,362 crore ($611 million) on sale of investments and Rs685 crore ($125 million) from the TCP arbitration settlement, the company said.

Group consolidated turnover for April-December 2012-13 stood at Rs1,00,061 crore ($18.20 billion) against Rs98,901 crore ($17.99 billion) in the comparable period of FY'12.