Vedanta's Profit Drops 23.5% As Virus Lockdown Hurts Output, Demand

Billionaire Anil Agarwal's commodities conglomerate Vedanta posted a 23.5 per cent drop in quarterly profit as one of the world's strictest lockdowns hit production and demand. Group net income slumped to Rs 1,033 crore ($141 million) in the three months to June from Rs 1351 crore a year earlier, the company said in a statement late Saturday. Sales fell 25.9 per cent to Rs 15,687 crore.

Key Insights

• Vedanta's main businesses include zinc, aluminum and oil and gas, all of which have been hit by a slump in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic
• Agarwal's London-based Vedanta Resources is in the process of taking the Mumbai-listed Vedanta private by buying out minority shareholders to simplify his investments.
• Vedanta Resources is in talks with banks for a further $600 million to finance the delisting after already securing $3.15 billion in loans and bonds, according to people familiar with the information.
• Vedanta had net debt of Rs 24,787 crore at the end of June.
• Vedanta's Hindustan Zinc, also Asia's most valuable zinc producer, reported a 23 per cent drop in June-quarter profit on lower prices and production.
• India's economy posted its worst slump in the three months ended June as disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak brought Asia's third-largest economy to a halt. Economists expect growth to shrink in the year through March 2021, in the first such contraction in more than four decades.

Market Reaction

• Shares of Vedanta rose 0.4 per cent on Thursday to close at Rs 137.45 in Mumbai. The stock has slid 9.8 per cent this year compared with a 6.2 per cent fall in the BSE benchmark index.
• Analysts have 11 buy recommendations on the company, 4 holds and 0 sells, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)