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

Vedanta Resources has reported the interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2016.

The company reports a revenue of US$4.9 billion and EBITDA of US$1.2 billion for the first half of  FY2017 reporting a drop of 15% and 4% respectively compared to the same period of FY2016 primarily due to lower commodity prices.

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.

Vedanta Ltd-Cairn India merger has been approved by shareholders and is expected to complete by first quarter of the next calendar year.

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.

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The company secured coal linkages of 6 mtpa for captive power plants through coal auctions enhancing the ramp up operations.

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."