Vedanta’s Q4 FY2020 revenues dropped by 16pc from the prior-year quarter to Rs19,513 crore ($1,475.37bn) as commodity prices slumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lower volumes in Vedanta’s zinc, oil & gas, steel business along with lower sales in power segment was partially offset by increased volumes in aluminium and iron ore segment and rupee depreciation in Q4.
For the quarter, Vedanta reported a loss of Rs12,083 crore, compared to a profit of Rs3,218 in the year-ago quarter as the company took an exceptional loss of Rs17,132 crore for FY2020 on impairment of assets in its copper, iron ore and oil and gas businesses. This is in-line with the company’s plans to delist from the Indian stock exchanges.
Compared to Q3 revenues dipped by 8pc on the back of lower commodity prices, lower volume at aluminium business and lower sales in power segment, past exploration cost recovery in oil & gas business in Q3 were partially offset by increased sales volume at zinc & iron ore business and rupee depreciation.
For the full year, revenue was at Rs83,545 crore, lower by 8pc from the prior year due to subdued commodity prices and lower volume Zinc India, besides upsets in oil and gas and power business segment. The loss in revenue was partially offset by increased volume from Gamsberg operations, improved sales at aluminium, iron ore and steel businesses, besides past oil and gas exploration cost recovery and rupee depreciation.
EBITDA for Q4 was at Rs4,844crore, lower by 23pc from the prior-year period, while for the FY2020 it was at Rs21,060crore.
Zinc India production
Q4 Performance
Metal in Concentrate (MIC) production rose by 6pc to 249,000mt
Metal production rose by 1pc to 221,000mt from the prior-year period.
Cost of production $997/mt, down 7pc from the prior-year period
FY2020
MIC production 917,000mt, down by 2pc
Metal Production 870,000mt, down by 3pc
COP at $1,047/mt, up by 4pc
Zinc International
Q4 Performance
Production at 57,000mt, down by 5pc from the prior-year period
Cost of production $1,784/mt, up by 13pc
FY2020
Production at 240,000mt, up by 63pc
Cost of production at $1.665/mt, down by 13pc
Q4 Performance at Gamsberg
Production at 30,000mt, 13,000mt in January alone
Cost of production at $1,484/mt ($892/mt exclusive of TCRX) up by 4pc
FY2020 Gamsberg
Production ramped up to 108,000mt
COP at $1,445/mt ($915/mt exclusive TCRC)
Aluminium
Q4 Performance
Production at Lanjigarh remained unchanged at 479,000mt from the prior-year period
Cost of production (Aluminium) at $1,451/mt, down by 14pc from the prior-year period
Alumina cost of production at $258/mt, down by 4pc from the prior-year period.
FY2020
Aluminium production of 1.9mn mt in FY2020, down by 3pc from FY2019
1.8mn mt of alumina, 21pc up from the prior-year period
Alumina cost of production in FY2020 at $275/mt, down by 15pc
Chotia mine annual capacity ramped at 1mn mt
Iron Ore
Q4 Performance
Iron Ore Karnataka sales at 1.6mn mt, up by 8pc from the prior-year period.
Pig Iron Production at 148,000mt down by 17pc from the prior-year period.
FY2020
Extraction of iron ore in Karnataka at 4.4mn mt, up by 6pc from the prior-year period.
Iron ore sales in Karnataka climbed up to 5.8mn mt, up by 125pc from the prior-year period.
Pig iron production dropped by 1pc to 681,000mt in 2020.
Electrosteel
Q4 Performance
Production at 320,000mt, up by 1pc from the prior-year period
Sales at 305,000mt, down by 4pc from the prior-year period
Margins rose by 132pc to $127/mt from the prior-year period
FY2020
Steel production at 1.23mn mt, up by 3pc from the prior-year period.
Sales remained unchanged at 1.17mn mt from FY2019
Margins dropped by 32pc at $78/mt due to subdued steel prices in the domestic market and macro-economic factors.
COVID-19 impact
Vedanta is focused on the export market in the view of reduced domestic demand, the company said. During the pandemic lockdown in India, Vedanta continued production as its operations were deemed “essential” by the government, but temporary disruption led to 20pc cut in capacity utilization, which was ramped to 10pc to reach 90pc of the normative level. Vedanta stated that all its sites were operational, but the pandemic has impacted the global commodity market and weak prices are seen across the bulk metals market.
($1= Rs75.61)