Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company, on Wednesday reported a 6.52 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs. 1,640.25 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, as its performance was affected by lower other income and expenses on voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
The company had reported a net profit of Rs. 1,539.79 crore in the corresponding period of 2012-13.
Net sales of the company, however, jumped nearly 25 per cent to Rs. 3,520.25 crore in the last quarter, primarily due to over 30 per cent increase in revenues from its zinc and lead businesses, it said in a filing to the BSE.
Company’s revenues from the zinc business was up 39 per cent to Rs. 2,570 crore, while revenues from the lead business rose by 33 per cent to Rs. 453 crore. However, its income from the silver business declined by 14 per cent to Rs. 388 crore in the quarter.
During the quarter, the company incurred Rs. 61.15 crore costs on VRS to some employees, primarily to those who worked at its now closed Vizag smelter. Its other income also declined by nearly 49 per cent to Rs. 266.88 crore in the last quarter.
In a separate statement, Hindustan Zinc said that “the positive impact of higher EBITDA was partly offset by lower other income due to mark-to-market losses on investments during the quarter.”
Commenting on the results, company’s chairman Agnivesh Agarwal said, “Market environment is challenging as global economy faces risks and uncertainty... We remain focused on sustainability of our operations and are committed to increasing our mining capacity and maintaining our cost efficiency.”
Hindustan Zinc’s Board has also recommended an interim dividend of 80 per cent or Rs. 1.60 per share on equity share of Rs. 2 each.
Talking about its production, the company said that its mined metal production was up 16 per cent at 2.22 lakh tonnes (LT) in the second quarter due to higher production at Rampura Agucha and restarting of Zawar mines. The integrated refined zinc production increased by 28 per cent to 1.95 (LT), while integrated refined lead production was up 29 per cent to 0.29 LT in the second quarter.
“We expect mined metal production of 9.50 LT in FY 2014. The momentum in integrated zinc-lead production in H1 is expected to continue in H2. Integrated saleable silver production is projected to be 335 metric tonnes in FY 2014,” the company said.
As on September 30, 2013, the company had a cash and cash equivalent of Rs. 23,632 crore.
Following the results, shares of the company rose by 0.37 per cent on Wednesday to close at Rs. 134.50 a piece on the BSE.
