“We continued the momentum across our segments, we delivered record operational performance driven by structural integration of technology adoption in all our business…we continued our focus on cost-cutting,” Sunil Duggal, group chief executive officer told ET.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s PAT has come down by 39 per cent from Rs 7,013 crore.
“Employees got affected, we had logistics and shipping issues we did have an impact of the second wave that is why the quarterly profits and volumes were low came down…also in March quarter we had a one-time gain from ESL,” Duggal said.
Revenue for the quarter under review was at Rs 28,105 crore, higher by 1 per cent Q-o-Q, primarily due to improved commodity prices, partially offset by lower sales volume at Zinc India, Iron Ore & Steel and Copper business, the company said. Revenue for Q1 FY2022 was higher by 79 per cent Y-o-Y.
The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for Q1 FY2022 was at Rs 10,032 crore, higher by 10 per cent Q-o-Q. Ebitda for Q1 FY2022 was higher by 150 per cent YoY.
“We had a robust EBITDA margin1 of 41 per cent during the quarter compared to 28 per cent in Q1 FY2021,” the company said in a press statement.
“Despite uncertain market conditions we were able to report record quarterly Ebitda this time,” Duggal said.
The company’s finance cost for Q1 FY2022 was at Rs 1,182 crore, down by 11 per cent Q-o-Q and 6 per cent Y-o-Y, primarily due to lower average borrowings.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents as of June are at Rs 31,318 crore. The company’s gross debt was at Rs 51,579 crore on 30th June 2021,
“The company’s gross debt was decreased by Rs 5,449 crore Q-o-Q. This was mainly due to deleveraging of Vedanta Limited Standalone,” the company’s media statement said.
The company’s total CAPEX planned for the year is around $1.8-$2 billion.
Segment performance
The company’s Aluminium business reported the Highest ever quarterly Aluminium production of 549kt With the Cost of production at $ 1,526 per tonne, up 20 per cent Y-o-Y.
“Aluminium continued its strong performance, making aluminium business the highest contributor to Ebitda in our businesses,” said Duggal.
The company’s Zinc production of 236kt, up 17 per cent Y-o-Y and Silver production at 161 tonnes, up 37 per cent Y-o-Y. Its Oil & Gas business reported an average gross operated production of 165 kboepd for Q1 FY2022. Company’s saleable steel production at 289 kt, up 8 per cent Y-o-Y
BALCO Expansion
“We are announcing a new project in BALCO, this will be a 100 per cent value-added product expansion,” Duggal said
The investment is around Rs 6,500 crore for an expansion of around 0.4-0.6 million tonne or 580 Kt of aluminium production. The company has planned to complete this project within the next 18-24 months.
The company plans to take its aluminium making capacity to 2.8 million tonne from 1.8 million tonne including this current expansion in BALCO. The company had a capacity of 2,50,000 tonne in 2012 after which an expansion was announced taking the company’s capacity to 5,75,000 tonnes. This expansion comes after 10 years and will take the company’s capacities to 1 million tonnes.
“With this, we will be reaching the 1 million tonne of capacity…this will be a brownfield expansion,” Duggal said.
