Vedanta Resources reports highest ever half-yearly aluminium production for H1 FY2017

<p>Vedanta Resources has reported the interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2016.</p> <p>The company reports a revenue of US$4.9 billion and EBITDA of US$1.2 billion for the first half of &nbsp;FY2017 reporting a drop of 15% and 4% respectively compared to the same period of FY2016 primarily due to lower commodity prices.</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/jharsuguda-smelter_33785.jpg" alt="News" width="517" height="226" /></p> <p>The company also reports higher operating profit of US$720 million compared to US$578 million in the same period in FY16. Gross debt reduced by US$118 million over one year, however, net debt increased to US$8.2 billion.</p> <p>Vedanta Ltd-Cairn India merger has been approved by shareholders and is expected to complete by first quarter of the next calendar year.</p> <p>For the aluminium segment the company reported the highest ever half-yearly production. Smelters continued to ramp-up throughout the first half maintaining the current production run-rate of 1.1 mtpa (excluding trial run production) and 1.2 mtpa (including trial runs). The ramp-up was temporarily affected by pot outages at Jharsuguda-II and BALCO-II smelters in Q2 and the repair work are continuing in the potilines.</p> <p>{googleAdsense}</p> <p>The company secured coal linkages of 6 mtpa for captive power plants through coal auctions enhancing the ramp up operations.</p> <p>Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc, commented: "Vedanta Resources continues to deliver on all fronts, achieving robust operational and financial performance in the first half of the financial year. We ramped-up production as planned at our Aluminium, Power and Iron Ore businesses. We continue our relentless focus on cost optimisation, generating strong free cash flow and de-levering our balance sheet. During H1, we received approval from all sets of shareholders for the merger of Cairn India with Vedanta Limited. This is a significant step towards simplifying the group, and creating long-term shareholder value, in line with our strategic priorities. Vedanta's exposure to India means we are well-positioned to benefit from world's fastest growing economy."</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>