The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, SEPT 28, 2021
The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Chairman on Tuesday said the company is ready to move to the next realm of expansion.
Addressing the annual general meeting (AGM) of the company, SAIL Chairman Soma Mondal underlined the highlights of SAIL’s FY2020-21 financials for the company’s shareholders.
Describing FY21 as the year of ‘growth and scaling newer heights’ for SAIL, Mondal said, SAIL posted its highest ever EBITDA of Rs.13,740 crore which was higher by 23% over last year.
The factors which helped improve profitability included higher sales of secondary products, sale of iron ore fines, lower usage of other raw materials, improvement in techno-economic parameters, benefit in stores and spares expenses, decreased purchased power rates, reduction in interest charges, higher dividend income and forex exchange gain among others, she said.
“The Profit Before Tax (PBT) of the company stood highest in the last ten years.”
Citing the various challenges faced by the Company due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, the shareholders were informed about the measures taken by the Company to counter the impact of this pandemic.
Taking pro-active actions, the Company reworked its plans and strategies to sustain all round activities. Outlining some of those, she said, SAIL made optimal utilization of the operational facilities instead of operating greater number of facilities at sub-optimal level.
Along with reduction in cost by reducing consumption level for various inputs, the capital repairs were also preponed wherever feasible.
In these trying times, the company said it maximized sales volumes through potential channels like exports, dispatch to Railways while it reduced cash outflows by reviewing commitments and renegotiating contracts among others.
She added that not only did the Company focussed on continuing its operations with minimum disruptions, but also ensured this was achieved without compromising the safety of employees and population in the nearby areas. In fact, the Company was a front-runner in partnering the Nation in its fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
