The Board of Directors of Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) today announced the Q1FY24 financial results through an exchange filing. The company’s standalone sales volume for the quarter stood at 548,613 metric tonnes (MT), up 54% year-on-year (YoY), buoyed by macro-economic factors, notwithstanding the global slump in sales and market volatility. The company’s Q1FY24 standalone net revenue was recorded at INR 10,027 crore, an increase of 25% YoY. Standalone EBITDA stood at INR 1,118 crore while standalone profit after tax (PAT) was at INR 666 crore. Net debt for the quarter was recorded at INR 2,956 crore and the net debt-to-equity ratio was maintained at ~0.2. Consolidated net revenue grew by 25% YoY to reach INR 10,184 crore. Meanwhile, consolidated EBITDA and PAT were recorded at INR 1,192 crore and INR 738 crore, respectively.
Backed by a healthy growth in the domestic market and government push on infrastructure, sales volume grew across diverse segments. Pre-festive season demand picked up in consumer segments, contributing to the sales volume. Coupled with an agile supply chain and a diverse product portfolio, the company was able to capitalise on the developing market situation throughout the quarter.
In Q1FY24, the overall JSL exports grew by 17% on a YoY basis. JSL continued to focus on servicing markets like the USA and Europe. In line with its strategy to restore its export volumes prior to the levy of export duty in Q1FY23, the company continued to develop new products and markets for exports.
Import of subsidised stainless steel continued to be a menace for the domestic industry. As much as one-third of the Indian stainless steel market is captured by imports. This has severely affected particularly the MSME sector, which constitutes nearly 45% of India’s stainless steel manufacturing capacity, with most of them still operating at 40% capacity.
Other key developments:
1. Jindal United Steel Limited acquisition: JSL completed the acquisition of JUSL by acquiring the remaining 74% equity stake for a cash consideration of INR 958 crores. The acquisition, which makes JUSL a 100% owned subsidiary of JSL, would result in improved synergies between both the companies and thereby enhancing value for all the stakeholders.
2. Sustainability and ESG:
a. As a responsible business conscious of its environmental footprint, Jindal Stainless collected over 2 tonnes of plastic waste in a collection drive conducted across the corporate office and manufacturing plants in Hisar and Jajpur to mark the World Environment Day.
b. During Q1, a rooftop renewable energy (solar) capacity of 13.86 MWp helped generate more than 3.35 million units of clean electricity, effectively offsetting around 2,375 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Innovative waste heat recovery plants captured and converted waste heat, thereby reducing around 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
c. Jindal Stainless became the primary sponsor of ‘Addiction-Free Odisha (Nashamukta Odisha),’ a year-long government campaign that was launched in May at Rairangpur by the Honourable President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu.
3. Operational excellence: The company launched the Pragati project on advanced production planning in collaboration with Capgemini and Dassault Systèmes. The focus areas include order traceability, sequencing, campaign scheduling, inventory optimization, and order commitment date and delivery performance through the implementation of APS-Quintiq and MES-Apriso software.
4. Digitalization: The company put in place a Yard Management System that has digitised the physical tracking of products for real-time online tracking. An industrial IoT-based Condition Monitoring System has been deployed to help predict mechanical failures. A Transportation Management system introduced in logistics has optimised the supply chain, enabling real-time visibility, tracking, and coordination of shipments, reducing transportation costs, and ensuring timely delivery.
5. R&D: The company’s R&D wing recently developed an eco-friendly product technology for clad plates, used for applications in industries such as petrochemical, thermal power and oil and gas, thereby providing a successful indigenous solution to hitherto imported materials of this class.
6. CRISIL Ratings: In April, JSL earned an outlook upgrade of ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’ from the CRISIL Ratings on the long-term bank facilities and debt programme, and a reaffirmed rating at ‘CRISIL AA-’. The rating on the short-term bank facilities was reaffirmed at ‘CRISIL A1+’.
7. Awards and Recognition: JSL was recently honoured with the Expand Global Markets Award by US-based DANA Incorporated. The award recognized Jindal Stainless for its multifaceted customer-centric approach from among 1,800 nominations spanning 29 countries. JSL, Hisar also received the coveted International Safety Awards by the British Safety Council for the fourth consecutive year for its steps to ensure a safe and secure work environment for its employees.
Commenting on the performance of the Company, Managing Director, Jindal Stainless, Abhyuday Jindal, said, “We have recently expanded our capacity, hence, the attention will be on stabilising and synergizing the expanded units. We will continue to maintain a sharp focus on the domestic market and capitalise exports, wherever possible. However, since the Indian stainless steel industry is operating well below its capacity, it needs government support for level-playing. The industry is still awaiting a positive decision by the government on imposing a countervailing duty (CVD) to curb dumping of mass and subsidised stainless steel in India by China.”
