Sesa Sterlite says to review spending due to commodity price falls

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sesa Sterlite Ltd said on Thursday it would review capital and operating expenditure across its businesses after the mining company's quarterly profit dropped 15 percent, hurt by steep falls in crude oil prices.

Net profit fell to 15.88 billion rupees ($257.46 million) in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from 18.68 billion rupees a year earlier.

Crude oil prices have more than halved since June, hitting the company's oil and gas unit, Cairn India Ltd , which is the country's largest private onshore oil producer.

Net sales dropped by 1 percent to 197.28 billion rupees.

Sesa Sterlite, part of the London-listed miner Vedanta Resources Plc , will focus on "disciplined capital allocation, coupled with deferred and phased development spending in zinc, oil and gas and other businesses" to drive cash flow in the near future, Chief Executive Tom Albanese said in a statement.

 

($1 = 61.6800 rupees)

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Mumbai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)