The Hindu Business Line : Sterlite Industries Q2 net rises over 4-fold

Sterlite Industries India Ltd has reported a 365 per cent increase in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, to touch Rs 1,207 crore, against Rs 259 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Its income from operations during the quarter jumped by 154 per cent to touch Rs 6,718 crore (Rs 2,647 crore).

De-bottlenecking of the company's copper smelter at Tuticorin, which will expand its capacity to four lakh tonnes per annum, is mechanically complete, with trial runs being completed, according to a company press release.

Mined metal

Mined metal production at the company's Australian mine touched 15,000 tonnes in the first six months of the current fiscal, which was lower than the first half of last fiscal due to planned closure of Thalanga copper mines.

The second quarter revenue from the copper business was Rs 3,307 crore (Rs 1,691 crore).

In its aluminium business, Bharat Aluminium Co Ltd's new Korba smelter achieved production of 85,000 tonnes in the six months period, with the progressive commissioning of pots that were disrupted in May 2006. "The performance of all pots has been increasing steadily and are expected to reach full capacity of 2.45 lakh tonnes by the end of this financial year," the release said.

Zinc

On the zinc front, mined metal production of Hindustan Zinc Ltd touched 1.24 lakh tonnes during the quarter, an increase of 17 per cent over output in the corresponding year-ago period. This was primarily due to increased output from Rampura Agucha mines. Revenue from the zinc stream was Rs 2,442 crore during the quarter (Rs 660 crore).

The company said HZL continued to expand its exploration activities, focusing on the area immediately around its current mining operations in Rajasthan. As a result, its reserves have been re-assessed at 53.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 12.8 per cent.