Vedanta Q2 profit rise 61% to Rs 2,158 crore

Mining baron Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd on Thursday posted a 60.6 percent rise in consolidated profit to Rs 2,158 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

The company had posted a consolidated profit "attributable to owners of Vedanta Ltd" of Rs 1,343 crore in the year-ago period, Vedanta said in a BSE filing.

However, the consolidated income in the July-September period dropped to Rs 22,814 crore from Rs 23,279 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said.

"Revenue (from operations) in Q2 FY2020 was at Rs 21,739 crore, lower 3 percent y-o-y, primarily due to lower commodity prices partially offset by additional volumes from commencement of Gamsberg operations and higher sales at Iron Ore Karnataka," the company said in a statement.

Vedanta chief executive officer (CEO) Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan said, "We are at an exciting transition that will see the company accelerate the expansion of its reserves and resource base over coming quarters." He said the expansion is being delivered through strict capital allocation and balance sheet focus aimed at creating value for the company's stakeholders.

"As we look forward to the year, we have in place the building blocks to enhance our performance in the three key businesses. We have immense confidence in being able to deliver the best from our assets and people whilst always being committed to our core values around ethics, governance and social responsibility," Venkatakrishnan said.

The company said its gross debt reduced by Rs 3,279 crore, on its continued focus on deleveraging.

The company's net debt reduced by Rs 8,322 crore in the second quarter of 2019-20.

Vedanta Ltd said it has a strong financial position with total cash and liquid investments of Rs 35,817 crore.

At Zinc India, Vedanta's Indian zinc unit, the ore production rose 3 percent y-o-y to 3.6 million tonne with strong growth at Rampura Agucha and Zawar mines and mined metal production was at 2,19,000 tonnes, up 2 percent q-o-q.

The company, it said, emerged as the highest bidder for Jamkhani coal block in Odisha.