There's still zing in Hindustan Zinc

Increasing output and firm zinc price bode well for earnings growth

As Street expectations on Hindustan Zinc remained high after good production numbers and rising zinc prices, some disappointment from the December quarter profitability isn't a surprise or worrisome, as the company’s prospects remain healthy.

The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) at Rs 2,757 crore was up 22 per cent sequentially and 26 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), but came lower than the Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 2,821 crore, primarily due to rising costs coming ahead of expectations. The increase in cost of production was largely on account of a one-time change in the ore to