Buoyed by increased production of both sponge iron and power, Monnet Ispat and Energy's net profit grew by nearly 17% to INR 77 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The company had posted net profit of INR 66 crore in the July to September quarter of the last fiscal. Its turnover grew by 27.22% to INR 458 crore over INR 360 crore in the year ago period.

Monnet said that "The company has reported a strong growth in production volumes of sponge iron and power. The realizations of sponge iron have also increased during the quarter.”

However, due to rise in raw material costs and drop in the realization in power tariff, the margins remained under pressure during the quarter,.

It added that expenditure on raw material grew to INR 279 crore during the quarter over INR 213 crore in the same period last year.

Mr Sandeep Jajodia executive vice chairman and MD of Monnet Ispat said that "The overall industry and business environment is challenging, however, we are focusing on better productivity and rationalization of costs as key inputs for managing our profitability.”

He added that "We are further going to see an upscale in operational performance essentially from the next financial year on the commissioning of our new integrated steel plant.”

(Sourced from PTI)