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Production of all the three metals that Hindustan Zinc Ltd produces — zinc, lead and silver — fell in the first quarter of the current year, compared with the previous quarter. (Compared with the first quarter of last year, production of zinc was down, while that of the other two metals was higher.)
Zinc production fell 15.3 per cent sequentially and 16.6 per cent over the same quarter last year. Lead production fell 16 per cent sequentially, but rose 94 per cent q-o-q. Likewise, production of silver fell 7 per cent sequentially, but increased 75 per cent q-o-q.
However, the company has said in a press release that the production was “in line with our anticipated mine production and our guidance.”
Mr Pavan Kaushik, Head, Corporate Communications, said in a response to a e-mail query, that the higher production expected in the second half of the year will more than make up for the lower production in the first half. He said that the production in the full year will be higher than it was last year. One of the reasons why the company expects higher production in the second half of the year is the ramp-up of output from the Rampura Agucha mine. Here, currently the ore-bearing body is a narrow strip which will widen a little ahead. Hindustan Zinc expects to reach the wide body in the second half of the year. This will give higher tonnage for the same level of excavation, Mr Kaushik said.
A notable aspect of the company’s performance in the quarter was the decline in net realisation, both compared with the previous quarter as well as the same quarter last year.
The company also told analysts today that its output of silver in the whole of this year will be 350 tonnes, compared with 242 tonnes last year.
Hindustan Zinc, part of the Vedanta group, reported a 4 per cent fall in revenues to Rs 2,713 crore for the quarter. Net profit was Rs 1,581 crore, 6 per cent higher than in the corresponding quarter of last year. This was because the company benefited Rs 120 crore due to mark-to-market gains as interest rates softened 50 basis points in April.
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