Tata Steel withstands market fall

Tata Steel was down 0.81% to Rs 792 at 10:01 IST on BSE on reports that the company has increased steel prices due to rising input costs.

On BSE, 50889 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 6.93 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 796 and a low of Rs 785 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 969.80 on 29 October 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 352.64 on 8 March 2007.

The large-cap scrip outperformed the market over the past one month till 5 March 2008, declining 2.37% compared to the Sensex's fall of 11.37%. It outperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 5.75% compared to Sensex's decline of 16.44%.

The company's current equity is Rs 730.58 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 792 discounts its Q3 December 2007 annualized EPS of Rs 70.17 by PE multiple of 11.28.

Tata Steel has reportedly increased prices of long products by Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 a tonne, while flat product prices have been raised by Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per tonne.

Earlier this week, Tata Steel set a target to double the return on investment to 32% by 2012.

On 17 January 2008, Tata Steel entered into a joint venture agreement with Al Bahja Group for the development of Uyun limestone deposits at Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman.

On 30 November 2007, the company signed an agreement with Riversdale Mining to develop a hard coking and thermal coal project at key coal exploration tenements held by Riversdale in Mozambique.

Tata Steel's net profit rose 0.5% to Rs 1068.58 crore on 11.3% growth in net sales to Rs 4973.92 crore in Q3 December 2007 over Q3 December 2006.

Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steel maker, is engaged in manufacture and distribution of steel, welded steel tubes, cold rolled strips, bearings and other related products and services.