9th Oct 2015 06:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vedanta Resources PLC on Friday reported a rise in production across most of its commodities in the first half of its financial year and said its net debt is expected to be below the USD8.0 billion mark as of the end of September.
The FTSE 250-listed multi-commodity company said oil and gas production net to the company in the second quarter of 2015 rose 6% year-on-year to 205,361 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 194,508 barrels.
That brought first half oil and gas production to average 207,538 barrels of oil equivalent, a small 1% rise from 206,125 barrels a year ago.
Zinc production from India in the second quarter totalled 240,000 tonnes, up 13% year-on-year from 213,000 tonnes, and cost of production, excluding royalties, fell to USD771 per tonne from USD799 per tonne. That brought first-half production to 472,000 tonnes, up 26% from 376,000 tonnes a year ago.
Zinc production from Vedanta's other operations totalled 63,000 tonnes, which was down 20% year-on-year from 79,000 tonnes, bringing first half production to 133,000 tonnes, also down 18% from 163,000 tonnes.
Vedanta's zinc business is its biggest contributor to earnings.
Copper cathode production totalled 94,000 tonnes in the second quarter, down 6% year-on-year from 100,000 tonnes, bringing first-half copper cathode production to 193,000 tonnes, which is up 16% year-on-year from 166,000 tonnes.
Copper production in the second quarter was up 39% to 47,000 tonnes from 34,000 tonnes. In the first half, copper production totalled 90,000 tonnes, up 19% from 76,000 tonnes a year earlier.
Aluminium production in the second quarter totalled 233,000 tonnes, up 5% year-on-year from 222,000 tonnes, bringing first half production to 464,000 tonnes, up 9% year-on-year from 424,000 tonnes.
Vedanta's operations are spread across a wide geography including India, Australia, Ireland and across nations in Africa.
In addition, the company said it expects net debt at the end of September to stand below USD8.0 billion, and the company said it is confident of meeting its covenants going forward.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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