European plants boost Tata profits

Tata Steel, the Indian company that owns plants at Scunthorpe and Teesside, yesterday said its European operations put in an encouraging performance in the three months to the end of June, despite weakening demand.

This helped the group's pre-tax profits more than double to 14.4 billion rupees (about 193.3 million) in the period. The wider Tata Group encompasses some 114 companies and subsidiaries.