The company's total income has shown a drop of 11.3 per cent in the third quarter to Rs 621.67 crore as against Rs 701.14 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company's interest burden during the period has also increased by 7.93 per cent to Rs 125.45 crore as against Rs 115.50 crore last year. Sales stood at Rs 615.49 crore, a drop of 9.98 per cent as compared to Rs 683.76 crore last year. Other income stood at Rs 6.18 crore as against Rs 17.38 crore.

Essar Steel has recorded a net profit of Rs 20.97 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2000, as against a loss of Rs 395.56 crore in the same period of the last fiscal. The total income for the period was up 19 per cent at Rs 2,016.38 crore as compared to Rs 1,691.20 crore in the corresponding period last year. The sales volume for the nine-month period has registered a growth of 8 per cent at 12.36 lakh tonne compared to 11.43 lakh tonne in the same period last year.