Vedanta Q3 profit tanks 42% to ₹3,092 cr

Anil Agarwal-led mining giant Vedanta Ltd's consolidated profit for the October-December quarter dropped 42.2% to ₹3,092 crore as compared to ₹5,354 crore in the same quarter last year, primarily affected by lower output commodity prices, and lower strategic hedging gains. Vedanta's revenue from operations came in at ₹33,691 crore, down 0.01% from ₹33,697 crore in the year-ago period, the company informed via a stock exchange filing.

The Vedanta board has approved the fourth interim dividend of ₹12.50 per equity share for the financial year 2022‐23 amounting to ₹4,647 crore. The company claims it to be the highest among its peers. The record date for the dividend payment is Saturday, February 04, 2023.

The Vedanta Ltd stock dipped 1.78% to ₹320.45 on the NSE today.

Vedanta's consolidated quarterly EBITDA stood at ₹7,100 crore, down 34.6% from ₹10,938 crore during the same period last year. Its EBITDA margin stood at 24% in Q3 FY23, down from 31.7% during the same quarter in the previous fiscal year.

Vedanta's gross debt stood at ₹61,550 crore as on December 31, 2022, while its net debt was ₹38,076 crore as on December 31, 2022. The company's net debt to EBITDA ratio stood at 0.96x.

The company says it maintained its investment grade credit rating of ‘AA’, with a stable outlook by CRISIL and India Ratings. Sunil Duggal, CEO, Vedanta says the company delivered strong financial results and steady performance amid a challenging macro environment. "Our quarterly Profit after tax grew 15% on a sequential basis to ₹3,092 crore; free cash flow (pre-capex) stood at ₹6,504 crore with a focus on working capital and cost optimisation."

The company said there's been a significant improvement in the ESG score of Vedanta Ltd by key external ESG rating agencies. "Vedanta ranked 6th among DJSI’s top 10 global diversified metal and mining peers and inducted into Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index; Aluminium business ranked 2nd among Global Aluminium peers."

Vedanta's board has also approved the sale of Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) business (Gamsberg, Black Mountain and Skorpion operations) to Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) for $2,981 million, including $562 million as deferred consideration linked to certain milestones.

According to the company, it's a win-win transaction and will unlock significant value for both Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc shareholders. "With combined R&R of 1,150 mn tonnes Ore and 60+ mn tons Metal, HZL will have the potential to become the largest global Zinc player."

During the board meeting held today, the Vedanta board re‐appointed Padmini Sekhsaria and Dindayal Jalan as non‐executive independent directors for the second and final term of 2 years and 3 years, respectively. Sekhsaria has been active in the philanthropy and development space for over 20 years. She is the vision behind Salaam Bombay Foundation, where she works with over 3 million children across India. Jalan, a chartered accountant, has 40 years of experience in business operations, financial management, corporate negotiations, financial control, among others. Jalan has worked for Vedanta for 15+ years. He was the CFO of Vedanta for 11 years.