Vedanta net profit down 7% in Q3 as finance costs surge

Company's net debt has gone up sharply, to ₹62,492 cr from ₹38,076 cr a year earlier

- Nehal Chaliawala

A surge in finance costs pulled down Vedanta Ltd's profits in the October-December 2023 quarter, à despite efforts at cost-cutting and a dip in input costs.

The company's cost of finance, which is essentially interest paid on loans, among other borrowing expenses, swelled 54% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 2,417 crore.

Ajay Goel, the company's chief financial officer, said that the company's average cost of capital had gone up to around 9.4% from around 8% a year ago. He attributed the rise to an increase in borrowing at Vedanta Ltd and to a general increase in the cost of capital.

The higher costs dragged down the company's consolidated profit after tax (PAT) by 7% y-o-y to ₹2,868 crore compared to 13,092 crore in Q3 of FY23.

Meanwhile, consolidated revenues (including other operating income, but excluding other income), posted a 4% y-o-yrise to 35,541 crore in December.