Vedanta beats Q3 profit view on production

BENGALURU, Jan 25 (Reuters): Indian metal-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta reported a smaller-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as an uptick in production and sales outweighed lower metal prices.

Consolidated profit after tax dropped 18 per cent to 20.13 billion rupees (nearly $242 million), ahead of analysts' average estimate of a 23.5 per cent fall, as per LSEG data.

Domestic sales and production for Zinc rose 9.8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively, while that of aluminium rose 1.4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

As a result, revenue from operations rose 4 per cent to 349.68 rupees during the quarter, beating analysts' expectations of an 8 per cent fall.

Grappling with falling metal prices, the metals and mining company has reported profit falls since the first quarter of 2022 and a loss in the July-September quarter last year.