29th Apr 2015 11:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vedanta Resources PLC Wednesday said its subsidiary, Vedanta Ltd, reported a 13% fall in profit in the last financial year as it was hit by lower oil prices and higher exploration charges, but the company still increased its dividend.
All of the results take into account the merger of Sesa Goa Ltd and Sterlite Industries India Ltd alongside the Vedanta Group consolidation conducted in August 2013. Consequently, the 2015 results are compared to adjusted proforma numbers and reported in Indian crore, which means ten million.
Vedanta reported a profit before tax and depreciation of INR19,088 crore for the full year ended March 31, compared to INR21,937 crore profit in 2013, representing a 13% fall year on year. Revenue rose by 1% to total INR73,364 crore from INR72,951 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was INR22,226 crore, also down 13% from the INR25,603 reported a year earlier due to the oil price and higher exploration charges at Cairn India.
Vedanta booked INR22,129 crore in exceptional items in the 2015 financial year, significantly up from INR167 crore in 2014, relating to Cairn India acquisition goodwill and the Sri Lanka block on account of a steep fall in crude oil prices.
The company proposed a final dividend of INR2.35 per share, giving a total dividend for the 2015 financial year of INR4.1 per share, which is 26% higher than a year ago.
At the end of the period, gross debt stood at INR2,814 crore and the company had INR46,200 crore in the bank.
"There have been several positive developments in 2015; record annual mined metal production at Zinc-India, record aluminium production as the new Jharsuguda-II and Korba-II smelters are ramping up well, and record alumina production at the Lanjigarh refinery. We have also commenced iron ore production in Karnataka and mining activities in Goa are expected to resume in the latter half of 2015," said Chief Executive Tom Albanese.
"We have taken actions to maintain financial strength and flexibility during this period of weak commodity prices through capital re-phasing and cost management initiatives," he added.
Vedanta shares were down 2.3% to 630.50 pence per share on Wednesday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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