Special Correspondent

First quarter net profit up 10 p.c.

NEW DELHI: The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is open to talks with Arcelor Mittal to explore synergies between the two companies in the steel sector.

Interacting with newspersons here on Wednesday after releasing the public sector steel major's results for the first quarter this fiscal here, SAIL Chairman S. K. Roongta said: "We are open to discussion with Arcelor Mittal on technological cooperation and exchange of personnel, as they have more expertise in the area [steel sector]."

Earlier, Mr. Roongta said the company achieved its best-ever first quarter (April-June 2007) financial performance with the highest-ever quarterly profit before tax (PBT) of Rs. 2,308.98 crore, marking a 10 per cent increase over the same period in the previous fiscal year. Its net profit also rose by 10 per cent Rs. 1,525.12 crore from Rs. 1,386.41 crore.

During the quarter, SAIL achieved a turnover of Rs. 8,898.45 crore, which was 5.8 per cent higher than that in the same quarter last year as also the highest recorded in any quarter so far. Its total income grew by 8.2 per cent to Rs. 8,346.40 crore from Rs. 7,713.5 crore during April-June 2006.

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