Tata Steel Ltd, India's largest private-sector steel maker, reported on Thursday a 14 per cent fall in quarterly profit, below analysts' estimates as excess supplies weighed on prices.
Tata Steel, part of the country's second-largest private conglomerate -- the Tata group, said net profit fell to Rs 7.83 billion ($172.5 million) in the fiscal fourth-quarter ended March 31 from Rs 9.09 billion a year earlier.
The median estimate in a Reuters poll of 10 brokerages was for a marginal 2.3 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 8.88 billion.
Net sales in the quarter were Rs 41.28 billion, up 7 per cent from a year ago, and above analysts' forecast of Rs 40.73 billion.
Shares in Tata Steel, valued at $7.5 billion, gained 41 per cent between January and March, beating a 20 per cent rise in the main BSE index.