Troubled steel baron fighting back with profit in Australia

METALS tycoon Sanjeev Gupta has reported record profits at his Australian business.

It is a boost for the industrialist once dubbed the ‘Saviour of Steel’, after years of financial pressure caused by the collapse of his group’s main lender, Greensill Capital.

Documents filed by Gupta’s Liberty Primary Metals, first reported by The Australian newspaper, reveal profit of $434million (£240million) for the year up to June 30, boosted by surging coal revenues.

Gupta’s Liberty Steel Group said last month it was nearing a deal to restructure debt payments with creditors including troubled European bank Credit Suisse. Such a deal could give Liberty Steel a way out from insolvency proceedings started by the creditors.

Greensill’s collapse in 2021 led to fears of irreparable damage to Gupta’s empire, which is said to employ 35,000 people worldwide. His Australian business still needs to stump up a further $150million by the end of this year to offset the damage caused by Greensill.

This follows $148 million in Greensill-related funding that has already been repaid.

The group’s refinancing efforts have been made more difficult by an ongoing Serious Fraud Office investigation into GFG

Alliance – the informal collection of firms overseen by Gupta. GFG has denied any wrongdoing.

Gupta, 51, was once lauded by the then Prince Charles for his plan to revitalise the steel industry. Others raised fears that the Indianborn mogul’s creation of a global conglomerate was a house of cards.

His group’s Australian arm includes Whyalla steelworks and iron ore mines, which have benefitted from soaring commodities prices over the past year. Liberty Primary Metals had $78.6million worth of cash at the year-end from total revenues of $3.1billion.

Credit Suisse and Citibank filed a winding-up insolvency application for the holding group for Whyalla Steelworks last spring to force Gupta to pay millions owed. He was able to refinance the debt, and is now eying expansion plans Down Under.

But Gupta’s UK business is thought to still be facing challenges as energy prices rise and the economy shrinks.