Tata Steel shares fall after weak earnings

An employee controls tools at the Tata Steel rails factory in Hayange, Eastern France, September 25, 2013. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/Files

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Tata Steel Ltd fell around 3 percent after the company reported a 69 percent drop in its December quarter profits. Tata Steel's consolidated net profit fell to 1.57 billion rupees ($25 million) in the three months through Dec. 31, the lowest since the second quarter of 2013, from 5.03 billion a year earlier. Shares in Tata Steel, part of the $100 billion Tata conglomerate, fell 5.9 percent in 2014, compared to a 31.4 percent gain in the Nifty. (Reporting by Indulal PM and Swati Bhat; Editing by Sunil Nair)