Vedanta posts Q4 loss of Rs 11,181 crore on impairment charge

New Delhi: Mining major Vedanta Ltd today reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 11,181.26 crore in the march quarter last fiscal due to a non-cash impairment charge of Rs 12,304 crore largely relating to Cairn India.

However, the billionaire Anil Agrawal-led firm managed to lower its net loss compared to the year-ago period. It had posted a net loss of Rs 19,228.12 crore during January-March of 2014-15, it said in a BSE filing.

Total consolidated income fell 10 per cent to Rs 15,979.3 crore during January-March of 2015-16 from Rs 17,804 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15 due to fall in oil and metal prices. It was partially offset by higher volumes.

Without the exceptional items, the mining giant posted a healthy 89 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 955.4 crore in the fourth quarter helped by cost optimisation measures across segments and other income gains.

The firm had clocked a net profit of Rs 505.4 crore in the year-ago period (also without exceptional items).

Vedanta's CEO Tom Albanese told PTI: "It was a tough year for the commodities market most since financial crisis of 2009, but Vedanta successfully lowered production costs across all businesses, while achieving record annual output at Zinc India and across Aluminium, Power and Copper cathodes."

He added that it is the result of the company's continued efforts to drive innovation to further optimise its low-cost operations, a move that positions Vedanta strategically to benefit from the future demand in India and across the globe.

"Our focus has been and will continue to remain on deleveraging our balance sheet and maximising free cash flow," Albanese said.

The market, however, did not share the same optimism and its scrip fell by over 4.6 per cent to settle at Rs 100 apiece at the BSE. Vedanta announced its results after markets hours.

Analysts attributed the response to on-cash impairment charge of Rs 12,304 crore largely relating to impairment of Cairn India acquisition goodwill, which was expected to have a bearing on Vedanta's overall performance.

The firm said other income for the year stood at Rs 3,482 crore, which was 47 per cent higher than in 2014-15.

On outlook, Albanese said from mid-2015 to February 2016 rising US dollar, depreciating Chinese currency and pessimism over China's economy impacted global markets and the company.

"Since March things have turned around. Metal prices are up and though, we expect some retracement in prices, but the situation does suggest that the worst is over," he noted.

Citing examples, Albanese said oil prices per barrel have gone up from USD 28 to USD 45, Iron ore per tonne (USD 37 to 70), Zinc per tonne (USD 1,500 to USD 1,950), Copper per tonne (USD 4,000 to USD 5,000) and even Aluminium per tonne (USD 1,400 to a little over USD 1,600).

Vedanta said it contributed about Rs 20,600 crore to the Indian exchequer during 2015-16 in the form of taxes, duties, royalties and profit petroleum.