Hind Zinc net rises 305%

BS 200 SCORECARD

Riding on an increased production of zinc and higher prices of the metal, the Vedanta group-controlled Hindustan Zinc (HZL) posted a net profit of Rs 1,335 crore for the third quarter ended 31 December, 2006, up 305 per cent as compared with Rs 329 crore for the same quarter previous year.

The total income of the company grew 173 per cent to Rs 2,544 crore in the third quarter as against Rs 932 crore for the last year's corresponding quarter.

The company's production of zinc grew 35 per cent from 68,881 tonne to 92,759 tonne. This was primarily on account of increased output from the new hydrosmelter and Rampura Agucha mine.

The average LME price for Zinc in third quarter of FY07 was $4,200 a tonne.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, the company reported a net profit of Rs 3,507 crore, registering 423 per cent growth over a net profit of Rs 670 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Between April and December, total income increased to Rs 6,688 crore, up 306 per cent as compared with the last year's total of Rs 2,182 crore in the same period.

Net sales for the third quarter of the current year were Rs 2,480 crore, up 272 per cent from Rs 912 crore in the same period last year. The company's net sales for the nine months of the current financial year registered a growth of 310 per cent on Rs 6,531 crore as against Rs 2,103 last year.

Earnings per share of the company for the quarter was Rs 31.6 as compared with Rs 7.79 a year ago.

HZL completed an expansion of its facilities at the Chanderiya smelter and the Rampura Agucha mines, both in Rajasthan.

The expansion has raised the company's zinc capacity by 1.70 lakh tonne per annum to around 4 lakh tonne per annum and it has already commenced work on an additional 1.70 lakh tonne per annum zinc expansion at Chanderiya, which is expected to be complete by early 2008.

The company will also construct an 80 mw coal-based captive power plant in Zawar. The work is expected to be complete by early 2008.

The global production-consumption scenario for zinc is healthy, as 2006 has been the year in which the commodity has seen the highest deficit, resulting in higher prices of the metal on the LME.