Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steelmaker by capacity, has posted a net profit of Rs 903 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009 down 50 per cent against Rs 1788 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.

Total income has dropped from Rs 7054 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 to Rs 5768 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009

Ahead of poor results, the shares of Tata Steel today slipped and settled at Rs 501 on BSE, down 7% compared to its previous close.

It should be noted that the stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 26 October 2009, rising 8.44% as compared to the Sensex 0.28% rise. The stock had made a 52-week high of Rs 600 on 17 October 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 146 on 26 November 2008.