Hindustan Zinc's net profit dips 47% in Q1

Zinc-lead producer Hindustan Zinc on Wednesday said it has posted a 47 per cent decrease in its net profit to Rs 1,037 crore in the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 1,940 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Revenues during the quarter were Rs 2,501 crore, which is 30 per cent lower from a year ago. The decrease was on account of lower volumes, the company said in a statement.

In accordance with mined metal availability and accretion to inventory, refined zinc production during the quarter decreased by 46 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and 34 per cent from the previous quarter.

Integrated lead production during the quarter was lower by 11 per cent y-o-y and 36 per cent sequentially for the same reason while silver metal production was up by 20 per cent y-o-y.

Rise in silver production was on account of higher volumes from Sindesar Khurd mine, though lower by 27 per cent compared to previous quarter due to accretion to inventory and lower volumes from Rampura Agucha mine.

"In line with strong zinc fundamentals and our expectations, zinc prices surged 14 per cent in Q1 (April-June quarter) FY 2017 as compared to the previous quarter, making it the best performing base metal. We also witnessed a rally in silver prices, which along with increasing volumes is accentuating its contribution in our profits, having reached almost 20 per cent at present," said the company's Chairman Agnivesh Agarwal.

"Our transition to underground mining is progressing well with robust mine development, especially during last few months. Production from our underground mines has also ramped up significantly," he said.

The zinc metal cost of production per MT before royalty (COP) during the quarter increased Rs 62,138 ($928) in line with production plan of lower volumes from Rampura Agucha open cast mine in the current quarter and thus lower average grades, it said.

--IANS

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