Vedanta Q1 Net Profit Falls 12% to ₹3,185 Cr on Lower Aluminium, Copper Prices

Anil Agarwal's mining conglomerate Vedanta reported an 11.7% year-on-year decline in net profit to ₹3,185 crore for the first quarter of FY25, down from ₹3,606 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations in the April–June quarter rose 5.8% to ₹37,824 crore, compared to ₹35,764 crore in the same period last year. However, sequentially, it declined by about 4% from ₹39,789 crore reported in Q4 FY24.

In its investor presentation, Vedanta attributed the lower sequential revenue to softening commodity prices and reduced volumes. A Reuters report noted that the benchmark three-month aluminium and copper dropped 4% and 4.1% on-year, during the reporting quarter.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) remained largely flat year-on-year at ₹9,918 crore, while EBITDA margin dropped to 26.2% from 27.8% in the year-ago quarter. Total expenses rose to ₹32,756 crore in Q1 FY25 from ₹30,772 crore in Q1 FY24.

Vedanta’s share price fell 2.28% on the BSE to ₹424.80 ahead of the quarterly results. The company also declared a ₹7 per share dividend.

“Amidst global market volatility, we delivered the highest-ever first-quarter EBITDA. Operationally, we achieved the lowest hot metal cost (ex-Alumina) in the last 16 quarters, lowest-ever Q1 Zinc India CoP, a 74% YoY increase in Gamsberg’s production, a 33% QoQ surge in power sales, and a 150% QoQ jump in Ferro Chrome volumes,” said Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta. He also highlighted the ramp-up of the Lanjigarh refinery to 587 kt, delivering over 3 million tonnes of alumina in FY25.

“Looking ahead, the commissioning of Train II at Lanjigarh, the 435 kt smelter capacity at BALCO, and 1,300 MW of new thermal power capacity—all expected in Q2—will enable us to deliver on our full-year guidance. The start of operations at our Sijimali bauxite mine and Kuraloi coal mine in H2 is also likely to boost our performance to record highs,” he added.

During the quarter, Vedanta wrote off exploration costs related to Cairn Oil & Gas' blocks under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). It also wrote off deferred tax assets (DTA) linked to unutilised tax losses at ASI.

As of July 30, the company reported ₹80,357 crore in gross debt and ₹58,220 crore in net debt, with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of approximately 1.3x.

"With our NCD issuance of ₹5,000 crore and other refinancing measures, our cost of debt has reduced by around 130 basis points YoY to 9.2%. The recent reaffirmation of our credit rating at ‘AA’ by both CRISIL and ICRA highlights our financial strength and market confidence in Vedanta’s growth story," said Ajay Goel, CFO, Vedanta. He added that the sale of Hindustan Zinc shares generated ₹3,028 crore in cash.

On the debt position of its London-based parent company, Vedanta revealed that it deleveraged about $227 million in Q1, bringing total debt down to $4.7 billion from a peak of $8.9 billion in March 2022.

Most of the company’s debt repayments are now scheduled from FY27, with only $320 million due in FY26.

Recently, Vedanta faced allegations of debt mismanagement from US-based short-seller Viceroy Research, which the company has strongly denied.