Tata Steel slumps on impairment charges

Tata Steel is down in the red today morning. The stock, after opening at Rs.303 has since then fallen to Rs.296.70 and has now recovered from this level to Rs.299.20, down over 2%.

The stock has slipped into the red after the company announced that it expects non-cash write down of the goodwill and assets in the consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2013 of around US$ 1.6 billion.

The impairment is primarily due to a weaker macroeconomic and market environment in Europe where apparent steel demand has fallen significantly in 2012-13 by almost 8% which in aggregate results in almost 30% since the emergence of the global financial crisis in 2007. The above underlying condition is expected to continue over the near and medium term, and has led to the downward revision of cash flow expectations underlying the valuation of the European business. The impairment also includes the effect of write down of assets in the ferro chrome business in South Africa and the mini blast furnace in Tata Steel Thailand which has been impacted by the high cost of raw material feedstock.

The final figures will be included in the full year results on 23rd May 2013.