Indian mining giant, Vedanta said on Wednesday (31) that its profit recorded a decline of 34.3 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year following low returns from its Zinc business and closure of its copper smelter in southern India.
The firm recorded a net profit of £142.32 million in the quarter ended in September, lower, when compared to the profit £216.64m recorded during the same period last year, according to the company filing.
Company’s revenue for the quarter grew 5.2 per cent to 2.41 billion.
Shares in Vedanta closed 0.3 per cent lower at Rs 210.55 on India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE), whose benchmark index Nifty settled down 1.9 per cent lower.
Revenue from Vedanta group’s India-based zinc and lead operations declined 12.8 per cent, while returns from its zinc global operations fell by 36.6 per cent.
However, revenue from transactions for the quarter increased 5.2 per cent to £2.41bn.
The company’s total expenditure in the quarter climbed 11.4 per cent to £2.22bn.
The shutdown of the copper smelter owned by Vedanta in India’s coastal town, Tuticorin, located in Tamil Nadu state on environmental grounds hit the profitability of the firm.
The smelter has the annual production capacity of more than 400,000 tonnes of copper, and as of now, the future of the smelter lies with a country’s independent judicial committee.
