Vedanta declares Q4 FY22 results, reports highest ever quarterly EBIDTA

Mining major Vedanta Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 7,570 crore for the January-March quarter of 2021-22 on the back of higher sales volume, supportive commodity prices and operational efficiencies.

The company had posted a profit after tax of Rs 5,105 crore in the year-ago period, Vedanta said in a statement.

The exceptional items at Rs 336 crore in last quarter primarily relate to Rs 2,697 crore gain from impairment reversal in oil and gas, which was partially offset by exploration cost written off in Cairn.

The company’s revenue from operations in the period under review rose to Rs 39,342 crore from Rs 27,874 crore a year ago. Its expenses stood at Rs 29,901 crore in the quarter against Rs 22,549 crore in the year-ago period.

''Achieved highest ever consolidated EBITDA of Rs 13,768 crore in 4QFY22. This 51 per cent y-o-y and 26 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) growth was mainly due to higher sales volume, supportive commodity prices and operational efficiencies despite higher Cost of production amidst input commodity inflation,'' Vedanta said.

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, has operations in sectors like oil & gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel, and aluminium and power across India, South Africa and Namibia.

The company further said its production of zinc in India achieved the highest-ever mined metal production of 295-kilo tonne during the fourth quarter.

ESL Steel Limited commenced commercial production in Mar 2022 from two recently acquired iron ore mines in Orissa. The steel company produced a record annual hot metal of 1,355-kilo tonne since the acquisition, it added.

For iron ore mining operations in Goa, which are at a halt at present, Vedanta said it is ''continuously engaging with the state and Central governments for earliest resumption of mining''.

For the entire 2021-22, the company posted a PAT of Rs 24,299 crore, which was Rs 12,446 in the preceding financial year.

''The strong free cash flow of Rs 27,154 crore has allowed us to reinvest for growth, further strengthen our balance sheet and continue our attractive dividend pay-out,'' Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta, said.

He further said, ''(In FY22) we have delivered historical best EBITDA of Rs 45,319 crore and PAT (before exceptional and one-time tax credit) of Rs 24,299 crore. This reflects our relentless focus on volume growth and operational efficiency, underpinned by structural integration and technology adoption''.

According to the company, its Board of Directors has approved the first interim dividend of Rs 31.5 per equity share on the face value of Re 1 per share for the financial year 2022-23, amounting to Rs 11,710 crore. The record date for the payment of the dividend is Monday, May 9, 2022.