New Delhi: Vedanta Ltd on Friday reported a 40.8 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,464 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 due to higher input cost and windfall tax. The company posted its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,164 crore in the year-ago period, Vedanta Ltd said in a filing to BSE.
However, the company’s consolidated income rose 0.4 per cent to Rs 34,818 crore in the October-December period from Rs 34,674 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s consolidated expenses during the third quarter of FY23 increased to Rs 31,327 crore from Rs 26,777 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
The introduction of windfall tax in July 2022 has an impact of Rs 333 crore. In a conference call, Vedanta Group CFO Ajay Goel said, “If you look at Q2 to Q3, our PAT has grown by 15 per cent.”
Commenting on Vedanta’s board approval to sell the international zinc business to Hindustan Zinc, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal said: “The objective of this merger is to create a winning combination where the fundamentals of both the companies are so great.. The R&R of our Zinc International is more than Hindustan Zinc so there is a lot of potential there.”
Duggal said, this step will give an opportunity to bring Hindustan Zinc to the foothills of geography where the availability of many more important minerals can be an opportunity. Vedanta said on Thursday that it will sell Zinc International Assets to Hindustan Zinc for $2981 million. The company’s board approved fourth interim dividend of Rs 12.50 per equity share amounting to Rs 4,647 crore for the financial year 2022-23.
The board has also approved plans to source 91 MW of hybrid renewable power and 600 MW of solar power for its aluminum plant at Jharsuguda across the country.
“Accordingly, the company will execute power distribution agreements through special purpose vehicles (SPVs),” the BSE filing said. Vedanta’s depreciation and amortization increased four per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 2,720 crore, mainly due to higher impairment charges in the oil and gas business. The company’s gross debt as on December 31, 2022 stood at Rs 61,550 crore.
Vedanta Limited is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, a diversified global natural resources company with significant operations in oil and gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel and aluminum and power in India, South Africa and Namibia. Company.