New Delhi, Jan. 29: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) — the country’s largest steelmaker — has snapped back into the black.

After years of wallowing in losses, the state-owned steelmaker reported a net profit of Rs 1,497 crore for the nine-month period from April to December on a turnover of Rs 15,306 crore.

In the year-ago period, it had suffered a loss of Rs 545.96 crore on a turnover of Rs 11,918.76 crore. For the full-year ended March 2003, it had a loss of Rs 304.31 crore.

The company has reported a net profit of Rs 737.95 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2003 as against a net loss of Rs 78.75 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. Turnover during the reporting quarter was Rs 6,684.29 crore compared with Rs 5,025.25 crore in the same period last year.

The steel behemoth also announced that it would be pumping in Rs 800-1,000 crore next fiscal to raise steel-making capacity by a million tonnes while modernising facilities at Bhilai and Bokaro.

SAIL also said that it would be coming out with a new voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) targeting about 2,000 workers next month out of its 1.33 lakh workers. The VRS window will remain open for two months and the SAIL board is examining the possibility of devising new packages, including deferred payments which could see better yields on the compensation package.

The steel giant’s stock prices went up to a new high today closing at Rs 45.55, a gain of 75 paise on Wednesday’s close.

It, however, still has an accumulated loss overhang of Rs 1,200 crore despite the strong showing in the last three quarters. The steelmaker, which raised prices by 15 per cent during the year, saw profits rise by as much as Rs 690 crore coupled with savings of about Rs 325 crore because of lower interest costs.

SAIL chairman V. S. Jain said, “The market will remain buoyant ... we expect another 6-7 per cent growth in steel demand through the next fiscal ... this should see us wiping out our past losses altogether.”