Net revenue, however, declined by 9% year-over-year to Rs 12,282 crore in the second quarter from Rs 13,522 crore recorded in the same period last year.

Total expenses fell by 13% YoY to Rs 10,898 crore in Q2 FY24 over Q2 FY32, primarily due to lower raw material costs (down 3% YoY), lower other expense (down 16% YoY) and lower stock-in-trade purchases (down 41% YoY).

The company’s EBITDA, adjusted for one-off FX gains of Rs 73 crore, for Q2 FY24 was Rs 2,213 crore (up 19% YoY).

The production and sales stood at 1.90 million tones (MT) (up 4% YoY) and 2.01 MT (flat YoY), respectively.

"Strong performance was driven by sharp reduction in costs which offset seasonally weak pricing environment during the quarter," JSPL said in a statement.

JSPL’s net debt stood at Rs 7,313 crore as at 30 September 2023 as against Rs 6,812 crore as at 30 June 2023. Net debt to EBITDA stood at 0.77x as on 30 September 2023 as against 0.75x at 30 June 2023.

Balance sheet continues to strengthen while supporting the on-going capex. The total capex for the quarter was Rs 1,836 crore largely driven by the expansion projects in India.

Bimlendra Jha, managing director, Jindal Steel & Power, said: “We are happy to see our coal mines finally starting. Shipments from Gare Palma IV/6 are already being received at Raigarh. Our quarterly results are significantly up year on year with sales volumes sustained in a traditionally weak quarter. We expect the demand to be robust in the second half of the current fiscal as India continues to march to a different drumbeat.”

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is a leading Indian infrastructure conglomerate with a presence in the steel, power, and mining sectors.

The scrip fell 1.54% to end at Rs 634.15 on the BSE today.