India’s Hindustan Zinc posts quarterly profit rise on strong silver, zinc prices

India’s Hindustan Zinc reported a nearly 14% rise in second-quarter profit on Friday, as silver prices hit record high levels and zinc prices climbed steadily, amid resilient demand.

India’s top refined zinc producer said consolidated net profit rose to 26.49 billion rupees (about $301 million) in the quarter ended September 30 from 23.27 billion rupees a year ago.

Hindustan Zinc is the world’s third-largest silver producer and the largest integrated silver player in India, which is the world’s biggest consumer of silver.

Demand for the precious metal in the country shot up in the September quarter as consumers looked to silver as an investment alternative for gold after silver prices hit record highs, and due to industrial needs.

Analysts had estimated that the price rise could be between 32% and 39% on a year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, zinc prices are could have risen close to 2% in the period, as per analysts’ estimates.

Local demand for zinc, which is commonly used to coat steel to prevent corrosion, remained strong as manufacturing activity in the country advanced.

Hindustan Zinc, which has cornered nearly three-fourths of the domestic zinc market, said revenue from its zinc operations grew about 2% and that from silver operations rose 10% during the quarter.

Total revenue from operations rose 3.6% to 85.49 billion rupees.