JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London-listed Vedanta Resources on Thursday reported a $196-million attributable loss for the year ended March 31, as opposed to a profit of $162-million during the prior year.
The company’s operating profit before special items also declined by 11% from $2.57-billion to $2.29-billion, with basic loss a share of 71.7c, as opposed to basic earnings a share of 59.4c during the prior corresponding period.
Vedanta’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) decreased by 8.5% to $4.5-billion during the year ended March 31, driven by lower commodity prices, reduced volumes at its Zambia copper operations and international zinc business, lack of sales from its iron-ore business and the temporary closure of the Sterlite copper smelter, in India, during the first quarter of the year.
However, the company stated that improved operational performance with a volume increase at its Cairn zinc operations, in India, and effective cost-control measures across Vedanta’s businesses partially mitigated the downside.
An Ebitda margin excluding custom smelting of 44.9%, continued to be healthy at similar levels to last year as a result of a continued record of stable operating performance, the company said.
Vedanta also reported revenue of $12.9-billion for the period, a decline of 11.6% from the $14.64-billion during the previous year.
The company added that it had reduced its net debt by $700-million during the 12-month period and by $2.1-billion over the last 24 months.
"This has been another year of progress for Vedanta as we celebrate ten years since our London listing. We achieved record oil and gas production, driven by the ramp-up in the Rajasthan block, as well as record production at Zinc India and with improved operating performance at our aluminium business.
“Building on these results, as a major global diversified natural resources company, we continue to focus on delivering value for our shareholders through operational excellence, exploration upside and increasing cash flows from our well-invested assets,” Vedanta chairperson Anil Agarwal commented.
Vedanta’s key priorities for the coming year were to improve the operating performance of its Konkola copper operation, in Zambia, to restart its iron-ore mining operations, improve capacity use at its aluminium and power operations and to improve its safety performance.
The company declared a final dividend of 39c, a 5% increase on that declared for the prior year.