Vedanta’s metals and oil businesses post strong Q2, steel and power lag

Mumbai: Higher commodity prices lifted earnings at billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta’s metals and oil and gas businesses in the September quarter, while its steel and power units reported muted performance.

Vedanta Ltd, which holds Hindustan Zinc Ltd, and Vedanta Aluminium Metal Ltd more than doubled their profits from a year earlier, aided by elevated zinc and aluminium prices and cost rationalization.

Vedanta Oil and Gas Ltd also returned to profit, helped by higher crude oil prices despite a prolonged decline in production. The company is now banking on new recovery techniques and exploration to revive output.

It plans to begin the alkaline surfactant polymer (ASP) injection process in “a few weeks”, interim chief executive Jim Johnny Gast said on Thursday evening. The process could raise output from its key oil fields and help reverse a production decline that has lasted more than a decade.

“We're beginning to see the green shoots of the production reversal and the decline management initiatives that we’ve put in place are positive,” he said.

The company is also exploring new opportunities to find oil, including in north-east India, Gast said.

“As our chairman has said, you know, 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day is not unimaginable,” he said. Vedanta Oil and Gas produced an average of 72,200 barrels per day in the July-September quarter, down from a peak of 211,000 barrels a day in FY15.

The company’s revenue rose 6% year-on-year to ₹2,488 crore. Profit attributable to shareholders was ₹746 crore, compared with a loss of ₹91 crore a year earlier.

Ebitda rose 80% to ₹1,351 crore, while the Ebitda margin expanded by nearly 23 percentage points to 54.3%.

Vedanta Ltd reported a 57% increase in revenue to ₹25,812 crore, while its profit more than doubled to ₹3,650 crore.

Vedanta Aluminium Metal Ltd’s revenue rose 40% from a year earlier to ₹22,324 crore, while its profit more than doubled to ₹5,167 crore.

“Vedanta Ltd’s strong earnings were largely driven by Hindustan Zinc, which reported a good set of numbers. Aluminium also performed well, with revenue growing 40-43% and Ebitda rising 83%, supported by elevated aluminium prices during the quarter,” said Suman Kumar, AVP, metals and mining, Phillip Capital India Pvt. Ltd.

However, aluminium prices have since softened, which could weigh on earnings in the third quarter, Kumar said. Vedanta Aluminium was also procuring bauxite, the ore used to produce aluminium, from Odisha Mining Corporation at higher prices following a dispute, which could put pressure on margins, he added.

While the metals and oil and gas businesses reported strong performances, Vedanta Iron and Steel Ltd, which operates a steel unit and multiple iron ore mines, reported a loss of ₹311 crore, compared with a loss of ₹465 crore in the year-earlier period.

Its revenue fell 2% to ₹2,788 crore, while Ebitda rose by more than a third to ₹48 crore. Its Ebitda margin remained below 2%, making it the weakest performer among the five Vedanta companies.

Vedanta Power Ltd reported a profit of ₹83 crore, compared with a loss of ₹1,688 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose by more than a third to ₹2,908 crore, supported by higher power prices during the quarter.

The improvement was also reflected in Ebitda, which more than doubled to ₹421 crore. The Ebitda margin expanded by more than five percentage points to 14.5%.

Nehal chronicles India’s top conglomerates for Mint. From navigating the complexities of big-bang mergers and large-scale fundraises to decoding high-profile recruitments and seemingly inexplicable corporate pivots, Nehal focuses on unpacking the long-term strategies of the country’s most influential business houses. He aims to provide readers with a clear-eyed view of how these corporate titans shape the broader Indian economy.<br><br>His professional journey began at The Economic Times in 2018, where he spent over five years before joining Mint in 2023. Over his career, he has tracked diverse sectors like automobiles, metals, cement, power, infrastructure, and renewable energy. He also keeps a close watch on the intricacies of corporate finance and corporate governance. This wide-ranging sectoral experience allows him to better understand India’s large conglomerates that sit at the confluence of these vital industries.<br><br>Nehal studied mechanical engineering from the Pune University and graduated with distinction in 2017. Driven by a passion for storytelling, he pivoted to journalism immediately after, attending the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. While his time in the newsroom has made him a healthy sceptic, his engineering roots keep him perpetually inquisitive about how things work—and why they fail.<br><br>He actively encourages readers to reach out for feedback, collaboration, or news tips. Nehal can be reached via LinkedIn or directly at nehal.chaliawala@livemint.com.

Dipali Banka is a Mumbai-based journalist who treats corporate reporting less like a beat and more like a puzzle to be solved. This invariably means she has to read through annual reports and speak with leaders and analysts. She tracks policies, deals, and the pulse of industries spanning metals, mining, paints, and cement, alongside aviation. She started out as an intern at The Statesman and then completed her postgraduate diploma in journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, in 2025. Relentlessly curious at heart, Dipali is driven by the simple urge to understand how things work and who they impact. Armed with an enduring fascination for steel and aeroplanes, she moves through the churn of daily news with focus, turning complexity into clarity without losing the story. She is particularly committed to shaping numbers into objective narratives, having little appetite for vagueness that gets in her way.<br><br>Outside the newsroom, Dipali is an unapologetically loud presence who values long conversations and longer walks to unwind. She devours books of all kinds and can often be found indulging in the lyrical sway of contemporary ghazals. She ardently believes that her relationship with her bylines is more sacred than it would ever be with anyone across the human race.

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