Vedanta reports excellent performance in June quarter with a four-fold rise in net profit, aluminium remains the major contributor

Metal and mining magnate Anil Agarwal chaired Vedanta Limited reported consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the company at INR 4,224 crore in the June quarter, a growth of 309% from the same period of the previous year on the back of increased revenue.

The Covid-19 first wave was the worst hit during the same phase last year, which rooted for the Y-o-Y jump in the bottom-line, in the March quarter, the Vedanta’s consolidated bottom-line was at INR 6,432 crore.

Vedanta’s top line remained strong at INR 28,105 crore in the June quarter, a surge of 79% from the same period of the previous year. Consecutively, revenues were just a marginal up from INR 27,874 crore in the March quarter.

Vedanta aluminium business contributed the largest at INR 10,263 crore to the total revenue followed by zinc and lead business in India at INR 6,323 crore and copper at INR 3,499 crore.

As per the prediction from the industry experts, the company’s net sales were seen at INR 26,821 crore, while the net profit was expected to be at INR 4,186 crore, while the reported number stood higher than estimated to INR 4224 crore.

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

Sunil Duggal, CEO of Vedanta said: "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.”

Vedanta’s EBITDA margin in the period under review stood 41% against 28% in the same quarter last year.

The management of Vedanta said: “Among the several businesses of the company, the aluminium segment contributed the highest to the overall consolidated EBITDA.”

Vedanta said: “The Company’s net debt at Rs 20,261 crore as on 30th June 2021 was after a reduction of INR 6,989 crore. 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 INR 31,318 crore.”

The CEO further added: “With a CAPEX of $1.8 billion for FY22, which includes a project as well as sustaining CAPEX, the company will be making additional spends for expansion of its Balco aluminium smelter with INR 6,611 crore spend, spread over next 18-24 months.”

Vedanta aluminium business focuses to propel its capacity to 2.8 million tonnes following Balco’s expansion from the current 1.8 million tonnes.