Vedanta profit rises 49% to Rs 2,348 cr in Q3 on the back of lower expenses

Vedanta Ltd on Friday reported a 49.1 per cent rise in its consolidated profit at Rs 2,348 crore for the December 2019 quarter, on the back of lower expenses.

The company had posted the profit of Rs 1,574 crore in the October-December period of the previous financial year, Vedanta Ltd said in a filing to the BSE.

The profit is "attributable to owners of Vedanta Ltd", the filing said.

In a statement, the company said "attributable PAT (was) at Rs 2,348 crore, up 49 per cent y-o-y (year-on-year)".

However, the company had posted a decline in consolidated income at Rs 22,007 crore in the October-December period, over Rs 25,067 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's consolidated expenses, however, declined to Rs 18,369 crore as against Rs 21,589 crore in the year-ago period.

"We remain on track to become the world's largest long-life integrated zinc-lead-silver producer in two years while maintaining our cost leadership. Our aluminium business continues to benefit from improved integration and systemic cost improvements," Vedanta Ltd Chief Executive Officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said.

The company said revenue was 3 per cent lower on a quarter-on-quarter basis, primarily due to lower volumes in the oil and gas business.

"Revenue was three per cent lower on Q-o-Q basis, primarily due to lower volumes in oil and gas business, partially offset by higher volumes in iron ore and steel, zinc India and aluminium business coupled with past exploration cost recovery in oil and gas business," the statement said.

The company's net debt stood at Rs 23,384 crore in the quarter, higher by Rs 3,303 crore as compared to that in the September 2019 quarter.

Vedanta on Friday announced the acquisition of Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd (FACOR) for a total consideration of Rs 280 crore.

FACOR is in the business of producing ferro alloys and owns a ferrochrome plant with a capacity of 72,000 tonnes per annum, two operational chrome mines and 100 megawatts of captive power plant through its subsidiary, FACOR Power Ltd.

The consideration will be payable under the approved resolution plan on a debt and cash-free basis.

The portion of payable cash is Rs 10 crore and the rest Rs 270 crore face value in the form of zero coupon, secured and unlisted non-convertible debentures payable to the financial creditors payable equally over four years commencing March 2021.