Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Resources Plc on Wednesday said the group’s core earnings for the third-quarter ended December 31, 2009, grew after metal prices jumped in the global markets. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebidta) rose to $662.5 million in the three months ended December 31, 2009 from $10.1 million a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement.
Sales expanded 64% year-on-year to $2.15 billion against $1.30 billion. Third-quarter output of refined zinc, Vedanta’s most profitable product, fell 2.6% to 148,000 tonne. However, its production of iron ore increased 35.7% to 5.4 million tonne.
“The increase in production was on account of additional volumes from the Dempo acquisition,” the company stated.
The Centre recently withdrew export duty on fines and this move is expected to favourably impact revenues. In the copper unit, output of cathodes rose 12% in India to 85,000 tonne and jumped 68% in Zambia to 42,000 tonne. Vedanta’s energy unit sold 589 million units of power, up from 42 million in the previous year.
The group currently has a cash and liquid investments of $ 5.3 billion. Performance in the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, was challenging due to a sharp deterioration in economic conditions.
Record production volumes of zinc and aluminium and record sales of iron ore were primarily offset by steep falls in commodity prices as well as negative provisional pricing adjustments and write-down of inventories to their net realisable value
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Vedanta-s-earnings-shine-on-higher-global-metal-prices/572240/