Vedanta consolidated Q1 PAT up four-fold at Rs 4,224 cr on revenue spike

Top line up 79% YoY at Rs 28,105 cr; lower base also spurs annual surge in bottomline

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Limited reported consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the company at Rs 4,224 crore in the June quarter, up 309 per cent from same period last year on the back of increased revenue.

A relatively lower base was also responsible for the year-on-year jump in bottomline in the period under review as last year same quarter was hit due to first wave of Covid-19. In March quarter, the company’s consolidated bottomline was at Rs 6,432 crore.

Vedanta’s top line stood at Rs 28,105 crore in the June quarter, up 79 per cent from same period last year. Sequentially, revenues were just a tad up from Rs 27,874 crore in March quarter.

The company’s aluminium business contributed the highest at Rs 10,263 crore to the total revenue followed by zinc and lead business in India at Rs 6,323 crore and copper at Rs 3,499 crore.

As per Bloomberg estimates, the company’s net sales was seen at Rs 26,821 crore, while the net profit was expected to be at Rs 4,186 crore. The reported numbers were higher than estimates.

Exceptional item for Q1 FY22 was at Rs 134 crore, primarily due to payment under amnesty scheme at Zinc India, it said.

Alongside, the company’s earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) in the June quarter at Rs 10,032 crore was a 5-digit quarterly EBITDA first time in the history of Vedanta.

"We delivered record operational performance, maintaining the trajectory of cost and volumes, driven by structural integration and technology adoption. Despite the uncertain market conditions, we have continued with our winning streak by reporting the highest ever quarterly EBITDA of Rs 10,032 crore, up 150 per cent YoY," Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer at Vedanta said in the earnings concall today.

The company’s EBITDA margin in the period under review stood 41 per cent as against 28 per cent in the same quarter last year.

Among the several business of the company, the aluminium segment contributed the highest to the overall consolidated EBITDA, informed the management.

The company's net debt at Rs 20,261 crore as on June 30, 2021 was after a reduction of Rs 6,989 crore, said Vedanta. This in turn improved the net debt/EBITDA to 0.6x, the lowest in the last four years. The company also informed of the strong liquidity position with cash and cash equivalent of Rs 31,318 crore.

With a capex of $1.8 billion for FY22, which includes project as well as sustaining capex, Duggal informed that the company will be making additional spends for expansion of its Balco aluminium smelter with Rs 6,611 crore spend, spread over next 18-24 months.

For its aluminium business, the company looks to take its capacity to 2.8 million tonne post Balco expansion from current 1.8 million tonne.

With the third wave of Covid-19 anticipated, Vedanta management informed that its vaccination drive has been in full swing with nearly 350,000 employees vaccinated and is better prepared for coming quarters to handle the wave.