Vedanta Ltd posted a net loss of Rs 915 crore for the July-September quarter on November 4. The company had clocked in a net profit of Rs 2,690 crore in the year-ago period.
The net loss was a result of exceptional expenses excluding which, the company's net profit was at Rs 4,403 crore.
Revenue also rose by a modest 6.4 percent to Rs 38,546 crore, the highest-ever in the second quarter and up from Rs 36,237 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. Sequentially, revenue was up 16 percent.
The company also fared better on the operational front, as the Q2 EBITDA margin expanded to 28.7 percent from 20.1 percent in the base period.
Meanwhile, 2QFY24 EBITDA increased by 47 percent on year Rs 11,834 crore driven by improved operational performance, ease of input commodity inflation, favourable arbitration award, partially offset by lower output commodity prices. The EBITDA was also the highest-ever in the second quarter.
"Strong believer of expanding our portfolio, we are steadfast in our growth journey and are progressing well in all growth projects announced so far with capital expenditure worth ~$8.4 billion. With this our revenue is estimated to uptick by $4 billion and EBITDA by $1 billion," Arun Misra, Executive Director, Vedanta stated in an exchange filing.
FY24 production and cost guidance
The company has also rolled out FY24 cost and production guidance for various segments across its portfolio.
Zinc - The company has guided for a production of 1,075 - 1,100 kilotonnes (KT) of mined metal and 1,050 – 1075 KT of finished metal for FY24 from its Indian units. As for silver, Vedanta aims to produce 725 - 750 tonnes of the metal in FY24. The cost of production guided for the segment is $1,125/tonne - $1,175/tonne, excluding royalty.
As for international units, Vedanta will produce 190 - 220 KT of Zinc from its Gamberg plant and 60 – 70 KT from its BMM plant. The cost of production at these units is guided for $1,300/tonne – $1,400/tonne.
Aluminium- The company aims to produce 1.9-2.1 metric tonnes of Alumina in FY24 while Aluminium production is pegged at 2.2-2.3 MT. The cost of production for both is likely to be around $1,800/tonne - $1,900/tonne.
Iron Ore- The company expects to produce 5.5-6.0 MT of iron ore from its plants in Karnataka, 6-6.5 MT from Orissa, 1-1.5 MT from Goa, and 0.8-1 MT from Liberia. The firm also aims to produce 850-900 KT of pig iron through FY24.
Debt reduction
The mining conglomerate that is reeling under a mountain of debt managed to reduce its net debt by Rs 1,420 crore sequentially to Rs 57,771 crore as of the end of the September quarter. Post some debt repayments, the company's net debt-to-EBITDA ratio also moderated to 1.64 times as against 1.88 times in the preceding quarter.
The company announced a mega restructuring plan of splitting its business into six listed companies: aluminum, oil and gas, power, steel and ferrous, base metals and an incubator for new businesses including semiconductors. The demerger of the group is aimed at unlocking value for its various business in a bid to ease its burdening debt.
As per data from Bloomberg, the conglomerate currently has bond repayments of $3.2 billion coming up over the next two years. About $2 billion of bonds are slated for redemption in 2024 — half of which is due as early as January — and another $1.2 billion in 2025, the data suggests.
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