3rd Aug 2005 15:00
Vedanta Resources PLC03 August 2005 CEO STATEMENT3 August 2005 At the Vedanta Resources plc Annual General Meeting today, Chief Executive,Kuldip Kaura said: Vedanta is a unique growth story and our profile of organic growth is unrivalledin the metals and mining industry. The financial year to March 2005 and thefirst quarter of this year has been an exciting period for Vedanta with strongprogress being delivered across the group. We continue to focus, perform anddeliver on the strategy set at the time of listing. In our recent quarterly results reported on 28 July, each of our divisionsreported higher production volumes & EBITDA. The total EBITDA for the firstquarter to 30 June 2005 was $155 million, an increase of 97% over the sameperiod last year. As reported at the results, the new expansions at our zinc andcopper businesses are building up production well and our development at Korbais progressing at a good pace with pots continuing to be brought on line. At our aluminium expansion at Korba we have completed construction of 216 potsout of a total of 288 and 50 pots have been commissioned. The second power unitis expected to be commissioned this month and the project is well on track forcommissioning and ramp up by March 2006. At the alumina project at Orissa, thebasic engineering and orders for all major procurement items are complete andthe construction of the refinery is in progress. The various management initiatives at KCM have started to yield results withimproved production in the first quarter in spite of a planned shutdown. The newacid plant, is on schedule for commissioning in November 2005 and projectfeasibility for expansion at the Konkola Deep Mining Project is underway. Sustainable development remains fundamental to our business and top priority isgiven to Safety, Health, Environment and community development as an integralpart of our business. India offers a rare combination of high economic growth, low metal consumptionand substantial and undeveloped mineral resources. With this backdrop we shouldbe able to extend our unique growth profile and deliver new value creatingprojects. We believe there are some significant further opportunities to expandour production, particularly in aluminium, zinc and also in our Zambian copperassets. The outlook remains positive and I look forward to reporting on thisover the coming year. For further information, please contact: John Smelt, Head of Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7499 5900Vedanta Resources plc +44 787 964 2675 James Murgatroyd Tel: +44 20 7251 3801Robin WalkerFinsbury This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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