Vedanta’s share price experienced a significant gain of more than 5% during morning trading on Friday, propelled by the release of its Q4 results on Thursday. Analysts noted that Vedanta’s earnings performance for the March quarter exceeded expectations, driving the surge in share prices.
In its Q4FY24 report, Vedanta reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,273 crore, marking a sequential decline of 21% and a year-on-year decrease of 27% from the Rs 3,132 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous year.
However, these figures were impacted by exceptional items, including the exclusion of custom smelting at its copper business and impairment taken for the closed Sterlite Copper plant during the January-March quarter.
Despite these challenges, Vedanta’s Q4FY24 EBITDA increased by 3% sequentially to Rs 8,969 crore, primarily driven by higher volumes and cost-saving initiatives across its businesses. However, this growth was partially offset by lower prices of base metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and exchange rate fluctuations.
While lower LME prices and exchange rate fluctuations affected the financials, Vedanta’s Q4FY24 revenue remained flat sequentially at Rs 34,937 crore, though it witnessed a 6% year-on-year decline.
Analysts calculated Vedanta’s EBITDA at Rs 8,768 crore, with adjusted net profit at Rs 1,549 crore. Antique Stock Broking analysts noted that this surpassed their estimate by 3.4% and was 6.3% higher than the consensus.
Brokerages on Vedanta
Motilal Oswal on Vedanta
According to a recent report by Motilal Oswal, Vedanta’s performance in the fourth quarter of FY24 was largely in line with expectations across its segments. The decision to extend the maturity of bonds at HoldCo. by three years is seen as providing the company with adequate liquidity comfort in the short term.
Furthermore, the progress of the company’s Capex plans is on track, which is expected to result in further cost savings. As a result of these developments, Motilal Oswal has marginally increased its target price for Vedanta to Rs 360, while maintaining a ‘neutral’ rating.
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