SMM8, July 7: mining company Vedanta Resources reported Monday that its quarterly core profit rose 26.3 per cent as aluminium production and commodity prices rose. The company also said it was on track to restart operations at its copper smelter in India.
The London-listed company, which operates mainly in India and Africa, has benefited from a strong rebound in metals, oil and gas prices and achieved double-digit core profit growth last year. The rebound in prices has also prompted the miner to expand production of zinc and aluminium. However, Vedanta reported core copper losses of $15 million in the three months to June 30, while cathode copper production in India fell 73.3 per cent to 24000 tonnes. The company's core profit for the first quarter was $32 million.
"We are hopeful of a restart of the copper plant, which is expected to produce 400000 tonnes of cathode copper a year, in line with pre-shutdown capacity," Mr Vedanta said in a statement on Monday. But the decline in copper production was offset by a 37 per cent increase in aluminium production. The company's quarterly zinc production also fell 20 per cent as a result of a decline in taste.
Vedanta metal business share chart
Vedanta's (EBITDA) for the three months ended June 30, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, rose to $983 million, up from $778 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 per cent to $3.55 billion. Last week, the family trust fund of Agarwal, the company's controlling shareholder, provided about $1 billion in cash for the private acquisition of Vedanta.
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