New Delhi [India], June 11 (ANI): PSU maharatna Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has reported 26.4 per cent hike in its net profit at Rs 3,444 crore for the March quarter and significant reduction in net debt during FY21.But earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in Q4 FY21 stood at Rs 6,473 crore, down 6.4 per cent from Rs 6,917 crore in the year-ago period.

Turnover jumped 44.6 per cent to Rs 23,166 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 16,024 crore in Q4 FY20. Profit before tax was up 10 per cent to Rs 4,608 crore from Rs 4,181 crore in the same period.

At the same time, the company achieved highest-ever quarterly hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel production of 4.98 million tonnes, 4.56 million tonnes and 4.42 million tonnes respectively during Q4 FY21.

In the entire fiscal FY21, the profit after tax rose by over 90 per cent to Rs 3,850 crore from Rs 2,022 crore in FY20.

EBITDA was up by 22.8 per cent at Rs 13,740 crore as against Rs 11,184 crore. Profit before tax surged by 117 per cent from Rs 3,171 crore in FY20 to Rs 6,879 crore in FY21. The turnover in FY21 totalled Rs 68,452 crore as compared to Rs 61,025 crore in FY20. SAIL said its net debt decreased by Rs 16,131 crore to Rs 35,350 crore as on March 31.

Chairman Soma Mondal said the second half of FY21 saw buoyancy in steel demand on the back of recovering economic activities.

"With the government putting thrust on infrastructure spending, we focused on scaling up market driven products along with improvement in operational efficiency which helped the company deliver a noteworthy performance," she said in a statement. (ANI)