The company, which was first approached by Tata Steel with a takeover offer, has given CSN time until December 20 to make a formal bid.
Corus CEO Philippe Varin said on Wednesday that the company has put off next Monday's EGM to discuss the bid situation to December 20, so that CSN could complete its pre-conditions related to due diligence and financing issues.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to comment further in this regard," as the due diligence process is on and "we are yet to receive a formal bid from Brazilian firm," Varin said in a conference call with reporters after announcing the results.
"We have decided to give some more time to CSN to give a formal offer," he added.
Meanwhile, equity research firm Exane BNP Paribas said in a research note to its institutional investors that results were broadly in line with expectations. Exane added that a fair bid from either Tata Steel or CSN should not be less than 500 pence per share in cash.
Beyond 500 pence, it would be up to CSN to evaluate its risk appetite, the analyst said, while adding that CSN would extract more immediate synergies than Tata Steel could due to its excess iron ore capacity.
Riding on the back of higher steel prices and sales, the Anglo-Dutch steel major reported that its third quarter profit rose nearly three-fold to £142 million, while the net debt declined by £518 million.
"The outlook for global demand remains strong, while Europe is stable," Varin said, adding Corus' profitability in the fourth quarter would reflect seasonal production shutdowns and the blast furnace reline at Ijmuiden.
"We are on track to meet the full year targets, and the fourth quarter should be marginally up from the year-ago period," Corus chief finance officer, David Llyod said.
Corus had hiked steel prices in the reviewed quarter by about 12 per cent and the cold-rolled steel, used in cars and construction, gained 11 per cent.
The company's profit after tax rose by 184 per cent in the quarter ended September 30 this year from £50 million in the year-ago period.
Net debt of the company dropped to £881 million as against last quarter's £1,399 million. This indicates that the acquisition cost for the final successful bidder between India's Tata Steel and Brazilian CSN, would be lower by about £500 million, bankers said.
The fall in the debt of the company is primarily attributable to the net cash proceeds of $478 million received from the sale of the Corus' downstream aluminium rolled products and extrusions businesses during the quarter, a company statement said.
Operating profit from the continuing operations for the third quarter surged 32.55 per cent to £171 million as against $129 million in Q2 of the current fiscal.
The third quarter result increased the operating profit for the first nine months of the year to £476 million, compared to £560 million in 2005, reflecting a combination of 3 per cent lower average selling prices and the significant increase in raw material and energy costs, the statement said.
