Indian miner Vedanta’s quarterly adjusted profit rises on higher metal prices

Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta reported higher quarterly adjusted profit on Friday, helped by higher metal prices.

The company’s consolidated profit before tax and exceptional items rose 21.7% from a year earlier to 70.14 billion rupees ($798 million) in the quarter ended September 30.

Its operating profit margin rose to 22% from 20%, aided by steady expenses.

The benchmark three-month aluminium and copper rose 8.2% and 5.6% on-year during the quarter due to uncertainty around U.S. trade policies. Higher commodity prices tend to support selling prices and margins for mining companies.

The miner’s total revenue rose 5.5% to 392.18 billion rupees.

Vedanta’s aluminium business is the biggest in India and contributes to nearly 40% of the company’s revenue. Zinc is the second-biggest business, followed by copper.

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Revenue from the aluminium segment rose 14%, copper gained 3.6%, while its India zinc, lead and silver segment grew 3.5%.

Total expenses rose 0.8% to 334.49 billion rupees.

The company reported a net exceptional expense of 20.67 billion rupees, which included a write-off of 14.07 billion rupees and a settlement payment of 6.60 billion rupees.

Earlier this month, Vedanta’s subsidiary Hindustan Zinc posted a higher quarterly profit on strong silver and zinc prices.