Sapphire Corporation, the producer of steel and vanadium products, says net profit attributable to equity holders for the July-September (3Q2010) period fell 33.2% to $3.1 million from the year ago period on the back of a 49% fall in revenue to $22.1 million.

For the January-September (9M2010) period, net profit soared to $88.4 million from $3.6 million for 9M2009, lifted by higher contributions from its steel subsidiary and a fair-value gain on a 9.2%-owned mine operator listed in Hong Kong.

The higher profit was achieved on the back of a 27.6% increase in revenue to $71.1 million for 9M2010 from $55.8 million for 9M2009, largely contributed by the sales from Nejiang Chuanwei Special Steel Co., a 70%-owned subsidiary of Sapphire.

For 9M2010, Sapphire consolidated the full nine months of revenue from Special Steel compared to four months in 9M2009.