JSW Steel expects better earnings from Sept qtr-exec

MUMBAI, July 26 (Reuters) - JSW Steel, India's No.3 maker of the alloy, expects earnings to improve from the September quarter, a senior executive said on Thursday, after the steelmaker's net profit fell 53.5 percent for the June quarter.

JSW Steel, in which Japanese steelmaker JFE Holdings owns a 15 percent stake, reported net profit dropped 53.5 percent to 2.7 billion rupees ($48 million) for the quarter ended June compared with a year earlier. That compares with the 4.94 billion rupees expected by brokerages polled by Reuters.

Downside to steel prices are likely to be limited, although raw material costs may fall further, joint managing director Seshagiri Rao told a news conference. (Reporting by Prashant Mehra; Writing by Swati Pandey; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)