Indian miner Vedanta's quarterly profit doubles on lower tax rate, higher commodity prices
Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit which more than doubled, boosted by a lower tax rate and higher selling prices for aluminium and zinc.
The miner's consolidated profit attributable to owners of the company surged 154% to 34.83 billion rupees (around $412 million) in the quarter.
The company said its normalised tax rate dropped to 28% from 46% in the year-ago quarter, mainly due to changes in its profit mix and a reduction in the tax rate of a foreign subsidiary.
Overall revenue increased by around 14% to 397.89 billion rupees, boosted by higher prices for aluminium and zinc, which gained by 19.6% and 17.5%, in the quarter, as per data from brokerages.
Vedanta's aluminium business is the biggest in India and contributes about 40% of the company's revenue. Zinc is its second-biggest business, followed by copper, whose prices gained 9.3% in the quarter.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 30% to 116.18 billion rupees.
Its EBITDA, or core profit, margin expanded to 35% from 30% a year ago, helped by the strong commodity prices and cost-saving initiatives.
Earlier this week, Vedanta's subsidiary Hindustan Zinc reported a higher fourth-quarter profit, although its finance chief flagged price volatility due to the uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs. ($1 = 84.6170 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
