Hindustan Zinc Ltd’s net profit for the quarter ended September stood at Rs 1,640 crore, up 7% from corresponding period last year on the back of higher revenues.
In the period under review, net sales of the company jumped 25% on year to 3,521 crore mainly because of higher volumes.
The company's refined zinc production was up 28% to 194,814 tonne in Jul-Sep compared to corresponding prior period. The increase was due to improved operational efficiencies.
Production of integrated refined lead was up by 29% to 28,978 tonne due to improved utilization of smelter capacity.
Integrated saleable silver production was up 14% y-o-y to 83 tonne in the period under review.
The Vedanta Group Company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation increased by 28% on year to Rs 1,904 crore, it said in a release today.
“The (EBITDA) increase was driven by higher sales volume and rupee depreciation, partially offset by lower silver price,” said Hindustan Zinc.
The positive impact of higher EBITDA, however, was partly nullified by lower other income that fell due to mark-to-market losses on investments during the quarter, said the company.
The company’s other income dropped to Rs 266.88 crore during Jul-Sep from Rs 521.34 crore in the same period last year.
During the quarter, the company’s zinc metal cost of production before royalty was 8% higher in rupee terms and 3% lower in US dollar terms from a year ago.
The cost of production benefited from higher production volume and operational efficiencies were more than offset by rupee depreciation and over Rs 3, 000 per tonne decline in by-product credits from a year ago, the company said.
Regarding expansion of projects, the company’s Rampura Agucha underground lead-zinc mine project in Rajasthan is operational via ramps and commercial production will ramp up in the second half of FY14. The Kayad mine project will also commence commercial production in the current fiscal year, said Hindustan Zinc.
“Market environment is challenging as global economy faces risks and uncertainty and growth in emerging economies is contingent upon global liquidity situation. We remain focused on sustainability of our operations and are committed to increasing our mining capacity and maintaining our cost efficiency,” the release said quoting Chairman Agnivesh Agarwal.
Pursuant to discontinuation of the company’s Visakhapatnam smelter operation, all workmen at the facility have accepted voluntary retirement during the quarter, said the company.
As on 30 Sep, the company’s cash and cash equivalent stood at Rs 23,632 crore.
“The company follows a conservative investment policy and invests in fixed deposit with banks and high quality debt instruments including AAA/AA rated bonds and debt mutual funds,” said Hindustan Zinc.
