SAIL chairman S.K. Roongta in New Delhi on Friday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, May 16: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has reported a net profit of Rs 7,536.78 crore for 2007-08, an increase of 21.52 per cent, on the back of rising prices and sales.

SAIL chairman S.K. Roongta said the steel behemoth’s sales crossed Rs 45,000 crore.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 186.35 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, a 7.6 per cent rise.

SAIL’s board decided to pay a total dividend of 37 per cent for the fiscal.

Earlier this month, Roongta had led a delegation of steel makers to a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh where he promised that steel firms would cap prices for three months despite rising costs.

Leading steel firms such as SAIL, Tata Steel, Essar Steel, Ispat Industries and JSW Steel have reaped a huge windfall as prices have risen by 30-45 per cent in a year. Global steel prices have increased 70 per cent this year.

However, profit margins are expected to shrink in the future as producers have to keep prices fixed despite surging coal and iron-ore costs.

“There has been an unprecedented, all-round increase in input costs in the past six months,” Roongta said here today.

However, analysts said SAIL would remain in favour on the bourses as it had its own iron ore and coal mines, which covered much of its raw material needs.

Rising coal and freight rates have increased the company’s costs by Rs 9,000 a tonne, Roongta said.

Raw material costs rose 8 per cent to Rs 3,424 crore during the period compared with the year-ago period. Except IISCO Steel Plant and Visveraya, all SAIL plants have reported profits. Bhilai led the pack with a gross profit of Rs 5,425 crore.