Vedanta profit declines 61% in September quarter

Metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta Ltd reported a 60.8% year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit at ₹1,808 crore in the July to September quarter this year, as compared to ₹4,615 crore in the same period last year on the back of higher expenses, according to its stock exchange filing. The company’s revenue from operations surged 20.5% at ₹36,237 crore in the September quarter, as compared to ₹30,048 in the same period last year. 

On a sequential basis, the company’s revenue of operations plunged 5% in the September quarter. 

For the September quarter, the company’s total expenses surged 43.3% to ₹33,221 crore, as compared to ₹23,171 crore in the same period last year. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) witnessed a decline of 42% at ₹8,038 crore in the September quarter, as compared to ₹10,582 crore. On a sequential basis, the company’s EBITDA witnessed a decline of 25.1% as compared to ₹10,741 crore in the April to June quarter. 

The company’s consolidated income during the quarter under review surged 20.2% at ₹37,351 crore as compared to ₹31,074 crore in the same period last year. The company witnessed a sharp decline in its performance owing to weaker commodity prices, lower crude oil prices and windfall taxes. 

On Friday, shares of Vedanta plunged 3.4% to hit an intra-day low of ₹279 on the National Stock Exchange. 

Earlier this week, in a bid to boost semiconductor production in the country, the Anil Agrawal-led Vedanta Limited inked a joint venture with Taiwan-based electronics contract manufacturer Hon Hai Technology Group, also known as Foxconn to set up India’s first chip manufacturing plant worth ₹1.54 lakh crore in Gujarat.

The collaboration is the first JV in the electronics manufacturing space in India after the government’s policy announcement for electronics manufacturing and a PLI scheme for incentivising organisations to contribute toward the development of this sector.