Tata Steel Thai unit expects net profit for 2014/15 despite H1 net loss

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai unit of India's largest steel maker, Tata Steel Group, said on Friday it expects to post a net profit for the fiscal year ending March 2015, bouncing back from a first-half loss by boosting sales of high-margin products.

Tata Steel (Thailand) PCL (TSTH.BK) posted a net loss of about 70 million baht ($2.14 million) for the six months ended September, compared with profit of 0.57 million baht a year earlier, hit by weak domestic demand and the impact of imports of steel bar products from China.

President and Chief Executive Rajiv Mangai told reporters he expects sales of more than 1.1 million tonnes in the current financial year, down from 1.3 million tonnes a year earlier.

Thailand's domestic steel demand is expected to drop to 17.13 million tonnes this year from 17.7 million tonnes a year earlier as construction activities slow in a weak economy, he said.

($1 = 32.7600 Thai Baht)

(Reporting by Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)