Hindustan Zinc Q1 net down 15%

A steep decline in metal prices pulled down the net profit of Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta Resources Group firm, by 15.21 per cent to Rs 718.82 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

The company had a net profit of Rs 847.81 crore in the same period last year.

"During the quarter, the positive impact of higher volumes and rupee depreciation on sales and net profit was more than offset by the sharp decline in the zinc and lead LME prices and lower by-product realisation," the NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal firm said in a statement.

The total income declined to Rs 1,706.78 crore in the reporting quarter as against Rs 1,853 crore in the same period last fiscal.

As demand for the metal declined amid the economic crisis, zinc prices crashed by about 30 per cent to $1,476 a tonne in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, as against the year-ago period.

Similarly, lead prices came down by about 35 per cent to $1,506 a tonne in the reporting quarter as compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.