Vedanta Ltd consol Q3 PAT up 27% YoY at Rs 4,189 crore on robust revenue

Net sales up 50% at Rs 33,697 crore; reported topline is a record consolidated quarterly revenue

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Limited reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,164 crore in December quarter, up 27 percent from corresponding period last year on the back of strong revenues.
 

The company’s net sales in the period under review stood at Rs 33,697 crore, up 50 per cent from the same period last year. The reported topline is a record consolidated quarterly revenue.

Strong revenue stream was supported by improved commodity prices and higher sales volume across businesses which partially offset by lower sales volume at Zinc International and Oil & gas business.

A current tax expense of Rs 2,100 crore also ate into the company’s bottomline in the period under review.

As per Bloomberg estimates, the company’s topline was expected to be at Rs 33,212 crore in the quarter gone by and the bottomline was seen at Rs 4,831 crore.

Among its business segments, the company’s aluminium revenue was the highest at Rs 13,024 crore followed by Zinc India at Rs 7,819 crore. Revenues from oil & gas business rose 65 percent in the December quarter from last year to Rs 3,113 crore.

"Q3 (FY22) played a big part in it with highest ever quarterly production from Hindustan Zinc, aluminium and ESL (Electrosteel Limited). Our commitment remains unchanged towards shareholders return and capital allocation," Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer of Vedanta Limited was quoted as saying.

Alongside, the company reported highest ever quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) in the quarter ended December at Rs 10,938 crore, up 42 percent from last year. The company’s EBITDA margin in the period under review, however, slipped to 37 percent from 39 percent in the corresponding period last year and 40 percent in the preceding quarter.

Exceptional items for Q3 FY2022 was at Rs 37 crore, primarily on account of Capital work in progress (CWIP) impairment at Hindustan Zinc's Doswada plant.

"With the commitment to transforming the planet and becoming net-zero carbon by 2050 or sooner, the momentum for decarbonatization across the business has increased with the focus areas being renewable energy, fuel switch,

fleet electrification, plantations & afforestation. We have entered into number of partnerships to brings best-in-class expertise and also strengthen our commitment to transforming the communities and the workplace," said Duggal.

Aluminium became the largest industrial consumer of renewable energy in India, said Vedanta. Also, MSCI index rating improved to B (earlier CCC) and CDP (carbon disclosure rating which is a measure of the environmental sustainability of a corporation) rating to B (earlier B-), it said.

With regard to Vedanta’s debt levels, the company reduced its net debt by Rs 7,781 crore in the December quarter on year-on-year basis to Rs 27,576 crore. With this, the net debt/EBITDA ratio stood at 0.7x as on December 31, 2021.

The company's gross debt was at Rs 52,783 crore on 31st December 2021, deleveraged by Rs 9,629 crore year-on-year. This was mainly due to deleveraging at Zinc India and Aluminium business, said Vedanta.