Hindustan Zinc March-quarter profit falls 18 percent

(Reuters) - India’s Hindustan Zinc Ltd, a unit of Vedanta Ltd, on Monday posted an 18 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, hurt by lower zinc sales.

Net profit fell to 25.05 billion rupees ($377.46 million) in the quarter ended March 31 from 30.57 billion rupees a year earlier, the zinc miner said in a statement on Monday.

Total income slipped 6.5 percent to 67.63 billion rupees, while revenue from its biggest segment zinc fell 11 percent to 45.64 billion rupees.

Mined metal production in the quarter was 18 percent lower to 255 kilotonnes year-on-year, hurt by a decline in overall ore grades due to transition from open cast to underground mining, the company said.

($1 = 66.3650 Indian rupees)