Vedanta reported a 61 per cent jump in quarterly profit as a one-time tax benefit countered lower metal prices and slowing demand.
Net income advanced to Rs 21.58 billion ($300 million) in the three months to September from Rs 13.43 billion a year earlier, the Anil Agarwal-owned company said in a statement. That beat the Rs 6.87 billion average analyst estimate. Sales declined 3 per cent to Rs 217.4 billion.
Prices of most commodities produced by Vedanta were lower during the quarter. The slowest growth in India in six years also weighed on sales and margins of domestic metal makers, including rival Hindalco Industries, which earlier this week posted a 33 per cent slump in profits.
The company saw a tax gain of Rs 16.1 billion compared with an expense of Rs 7.18 billion during the same period a year earlier.
Tax gains lifted quarterly net income by 15 per cent at unit Hindustan Zinc Ltd., which contributed more than half of Vedanta’s profit in the year ended March.
Vedanta’s earnings were boosted by higher volumes at its Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa, lower costs at its aluminum unit and increased sales of iron ore in Karnataka.
