Tata Steel’s ultra-wealthy parent company in the UK made a profit of around £3 billion last year.
Indian-owned Tata Steel UK last week confirmed devastating plans to axe up to 2,800 British jobs. Most will go at its Port Talbot plant in South Wales with the closure of its two blast furnaces this year.
The government is giving Tata £500 million of taxpayers’ money to fund a new electric arc furnace on site, but it is not expected to be completed until 2027 and will require far fewer staff. Tata has complained of wasting almost £1. 5 million a day. However, the accounts of its Mumbai-based parent company, Tata Steel Limited, show that global business is booming.
Last year, the company made an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) profit of £3 billion, according to a study by the Unite union.
Tata donated £1. 4 billion to shareholders between 2019 and 2023 and had reserves of £1. 6 billion at the end of the last financial year. Unite leader Sharon Graham said: “Tata’s pro-poverty arguments have been denounced as a farce. They are making a lot of cash and will only gain advantage by loading more Indian and Dutch metal into the UK if we take advantage of their ability.
“It is unbelievable the Government is going along with this. Rather than demanding the investment comes with jobs guarantees, they are giving Tata half a billion of taxpayers’ money to slash its workforce and flood the UK with foreign steel.” Tata Steel said: “As a listed company on the Mumbai stock exchange, our financial results are available on our website.”
Skippers highlighted losses of almost £135 million at Tata Steel UK between July and September. This comes on top of a loss of £162 million in the year to March. However, last year the company made a profit of £193 million. Unite says Tata has invested less in its UK metal operations than it has in its European plants.
Tata is owned by Tata Sons, formerly led by Ratan Tata, 86. The empire includes Jaguar Land Rover. The closing of Port Talbot’s blast furnaces is partly to tackle pollution. Tata is pledging over £130m to help workers who will lose their jobs.
The Mirror has been campaigning since 2015 to save our steel.
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