Hindustan Zinc Q4 net falls 12% to Rs 2,583 cr

New Delhi: Vedanta Group company Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) on Friday reported an 11.78 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,583 crore for the fourth quarter of 2022-23 on account of higher expenses. The company clocked Rs 2,928 crore net profit in the January-March period of the preceding 2021-22 fiscal, HZL said in a regulatory filing.

Its total income also declined to Rs 8,863 crore from Rs 9,074 crore in the year-ago period. The company's expenses stood at Rs 5,358 crore, higher than Rs 4,717 crore a year ago.

"The Board on the recommendation of the nomination and remuneration committee and audit & risk management Committee had approved the appointment of Sandeep Modi currently Interim CFO as Chief Financial Officer (KMP) of the company w.e.f. April 21, 2023," the filing said.

In a statement, the company said its zinc production was at 2.15 lakh tonne (LT), up 2 per cent from 2.11 LT in January-March 2022, while sales were almost flat at 2.16 LT. The production and sale of saleable lead rose by 10 per cent to 54,000 tonne from 49,000 tonne a year ago. The revenue from operations during the quarter was 3 per cent lower year-on-year at Rs 8,509 crore on account of lower zinc, lead and silver prices partly offset by higher metal and silver volumes and favourable exchange rates. For the whole of 2022-23, HZL has posted a net profit of Rs 10,511 crore against Rs 9,629 crore in 2021-22.

HZL CEO Arun Misra said, "By registering a historic high annual operational and financial performance, it was undeniably a landmark year for the company. This year saw crossing the 1 million tonne metal mark, which is a true reflection of our persistent focus on volume delivery and operational efficiency. Hindustan Zinc is now ranked as the 5th largest silver producer globally".

As part of efforts to decarbonise operations, the company has signed a Power Delivery Agreement for sourcing up to 450 MW renewable energy and using electric vehicles for underground mining operations, he added. "These significant developments corroborate our commitment to deliver on our ESG roadmap of achieving net zero by 2050," he said.

Vedanta Group company Hindustan Zinc is the world's second-largest integrated zinc producer and fifth-largest silver producer.