Tata Steel pushes UK profitability target to FY29

Tata Steel Ltd has postponed its target of turning its trading net profit positive in the UK from 2025-26 to 2028-29, when the steelmaker will complete its electric arc furnace (EAF) project in the country.

Businesses in the UK are expected to become Ebitda and PAT positive by FY29, Chandrasekaran said on Thursday. “So, we hope to contain the losses and this (EAF) project will be completed in FY29. At that time, the company should not only be Ebitda positive but also PAT positive. That is the target we have for the UK,” he told shareholders at this year’s annual general meeting.

Ebitda is an abbreviation for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, while PAT represents profit after tax.

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Revised deadline replaces FY26 profitability target Chandrasekaran had named Tata Steel’s managing director and managing director TV Narendran at last year’s AGM.

India is the primary market

President said Tata Steel has been working for years to address challenges in its overseas business while strengthening its Indian operations to reduce the impact of international losses.

“There were a lot of questions about international operations, Europe, UK, Canada and all these operations. Look, this is something we have been trying to solve for a number of years. We have now solved this problem to some extent by significantly increasing India’s capacity,” he said.

He added that India has become the company’s “primary cash engine” with domestic EBITDA growing by just over 100 percent. ₹Approximately 10,000 crore ₹30,000 crore over the last decade generating the cash needed to support international reconstruction efforts.

Returning to work in England

Tata Steel is transforming its operations in the UK by replacing its blast furnaces with an EAF in Port Talbot under a deal with the UK government, which has provided a significant grant for the project. Both blast furnaces have already been shut down and the company currently operates only sub-plants that process imported steel plates.

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Separately, Chandrasekaran said the commissioning of the EAF project has been delayed from FY28 to FY29 due to delays in providing electricity connection from the UK National Grid. “The national grid continues to be delayed. This worries us. In general, the project is therefore due in FY29, not FY28. We are discussing if there is any increase in cost,” he said.

While he did not directly tie the profitability target to the project’s revised timeline, his comments indicate that Tata Steel expects the turnaround of its UK business to be completed by the time EAF becomes operational in FY29, marking a significant milestone in the company’s efforts to restructure its international operations.

In the UK, steel producers are facing pressure due to underpriced imports and low prices. Despite the final quota levels, Tata Steel UK CEO Rajesh Nair said in June that the final quotas “do not reflect UK market conditions or the pressures facing the domestic steel industry”. Quota volumes across a range of categories continue to allow significant import penetration into strategically important UK steel markets, subjecting local production and supply chains to continued pressure.”

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Regarding its Dutch operations, the chairman said the business continues to face a challenging regulatory environment. The steelmaker is in constant contact with the Dutch government and regulators to resolve the issue.

Tata Steel’s consolidated income from operations increased by 6% ₹2.32 trillion in FY26 and also reported a three-fold increase in consolidated net profit attributable to owners. ₹10,793.87 crore in FY26. Tata Steel UK accounts for almost 10% of the steelmaker’s total revenue from its operations.