Vedanta Q3 Results | Profit grows 26.75% to Rs 5,354 crore, revenue up nearly 50%

Vedanta Ltd on Friday reported a 26.75 percent increase in its consolidated net profit for the December quarter to Rs 5,354 crore from Rs 4,224 crore reported a year ago. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 5,812 crore in the previous quarter.

The company attributed the better-than-expected earnings to sustained margins benefitting from operational efficiencies and high commodity prices despite input cost headwinds.

Consolidated revenues for the metal and oil and gas major stood at Rs 33,697 crore, up 49.77 percent, compared to Rs 22,498 crore reported in the year-ago period. Revenues in the preceding quarter stood at Rs 30,048 crore.

Vedanta's EBITDA was up 42 percent to Rs 10,938 crore primarily supported by improved commodity prices. This was partially offset higher cost of production impacted by input commodity inflation. Its EBITDA margin fell to 37 percent in the quarter from 38 percent a year back and 40 percent in the previous quarter.

"Q3 played a big part in it with highest ever quarterly production from HZL, Aluminium and ESL. Our commitment remains unchanged towards shareholders return and capital allocation. We reduced net debt by Rs 7,781 crore YoY while maintaining net debt/EBITDA at low level of 0.7x and rewarded shareholders with a second interim dividend of Rs 13.5 per share, entailing a pay-out of Rs 5,019 crore in this quarter," said Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta.

As of December 2021, the company reduced its gross debt by Rs 9,629 crore year-on-year at Rs 52,783 crore mainly due to deleveraging at Zinc India and Aluminium operations. Net debt was at Rs 27,576 crore, a reduction of Rs 7,781 crore year-on-year. This was primarily driven by strong cash flow from operations and repayment of inter-company loan from Vedanta Resources, offset by capex and dividend payment, Vedanta said.

The company has cash and cash equivalents of Rs 25,207 crore.

Vedanta Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Ltd, is one of the world's leading oil and gas and metals companies. It has significant operations in oil and gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel, and aluminium and power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and Australia.

The stock of Vedanta Ltd was trading unchanged at Rs 328 a share on BSE. It has generated robust returns of 101 percent during the past one year but is down 4.9 percent during the past one month.