Sterlite Industries (India) Limited Unaudited Consolidated Results for the First Quarter Ended 30 Ju

Sterlite Industries (India) Limited Unaudited Consolidated Results for the First Quarter Ended 30 June 2013

MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sterlite Industries (India) Limited ("SIIL" or "Sterlite" or "the Company") today announced its unaudited consolidated results for the first quarter (Q1) ended 30 June 2013.

Q1 FY 2014 Highlights

• Mined metal production up 27% and integrated zinc production up 10% at Zinc India

• Power generation up 34% at the Jharsuguda 2400 MW Plant

• Strong Balance sheet with cash & liquid investments of Rs. 25,890 crore

• Merger of Sterlite and Sesa Goa Ltd has received approval of the High Court of Madras on July 25, 2013

*Based on profit for the period after adding back exceptional items and other gains and losses, and their resultant tax and minority interest effects

Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman: "We achieved a strong performance in the first quarter of FY 2014, and delivered production growth at our world-class Zinc, Silver, Power and Aluminium businesses despite global economic volatility and lower metal prices. We remain focused on completing the merger with Sesa Goa, and ramping up production from our growth projects across our world class asset portfolio."

Revenues and EBITDA were lower primarily on account of a temporary closure of the Tuticorin copper smelter, which was partially offset by higher power generation at the Jharsuguda 2,400 MW power plant and higher production at Zinc India. Temporary closure of the Tuticorin smelter negatively impacted EBITDA by Rs. 180 crore.

Attributable PAT and Basic EPS were impacted by lower EBITDA and higher losses at associate. Higher interest costs on borrowings was largely offset by increase in other income.

Merger of Sterlite and Sesa Goa Limited and Vedanta Group Consolidation

The proposed Merger of Sterlite and Sesa Goa Limited and Vedanta Group Consolidation has received the approval of the High Court of Madras on July 25, 2013 and the approval of the High Court of Bombay at Goa on April 3, 2013.

One of the shareholders of Sesa Goa has filed an appeal against the order passed by the High Court of Bombay at Goa before the Division Bench of the same court. The hearings before the Division Bench have been completed and the order is awaited.

During Q1, mined metal production was 27% higher than the corresponding prior quarter. The increase in production was in line with our plan to deliver 1 million tonne mined metal production for the year.

Integrated production of refined zinc was 10% higher, due to higher smelter utilization. Integrated production of refined lead was in line with the corresponding prior quarter. Integrated saleable silver production was 9% higher driven by higher volumes from Sindesar Khurd and Zawar mines.

Revenues were higher by 9% on account of higher sales volume and depreciation of Indian Rupee, partially offset by lower metal prices.

The zinc cost of production (COP) without royalty was 2% higher in Rupee terms and 1% lower in US Dollar terms. The increase in Rupee COP was primarily due to lower sulphuric acid credits and higher excavation costs, partially offset by lower coal prices, lower specific coal consumption and the benefits of higher volumes.

EBITDA was 7% higher on account of higher volume partially offset by higher operating costs. PAT for the quarter was 6% higher at Rs. 1,630 Crore.

Zinc-Lead Metal in Concentrate (MIC) production was lower on account of disruptions in production caused by accidents at Lisheen and BMM.

EBITDA was 12% lower on account of lower volumes, lower metal prices and marginally higher COP.

NM = Not Meaningful.

During Q1, mined metal production at Australia was 13% lower due to lower grades. Copper cathode production was lower due to a temporary closure of the Tuticorin smelter for most of the quarter.

EBITDA was lower due to fixed expenses of the Tuticorin smelter partially offset by gains on sale of surplus power from the first 80 MW unit of Tuticorin power plant. Contribution from Australian operations was affected by lower sales volume, lower LME and higher COP.

Following the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board's (TNPCB) order for closure of the Tuticorin copper smelter on March 29, 2013, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) after hearing company's appeal, passed an interim order on May 31, 2013 conditionally allowing the smelter to recommence operations, and the plant restarted on June 23, 2013. On July 15, 2013, an expert committee confirmed that the plant meets the prescribed standards, and the NGT in its order of even date took cognizance of the findings of the expert committee and observed that the company "is neither an existing pollutant nor is a threat of future pollution (not violating prescribed standards) resulting in health hazards", and declined to modify its earlier interim order dated 31st May, 2013, enabling the plant to continue to operate. Separately, the TNPCB has also filed an appeal against the NGT's earlier interim order before the Supreme Court.

During Q1, the Korba-II aluminium smelter continued to operate at its rated capacity.

Revenues were 5% lower on account of lower sales volume and fall in metal prices, partially offset by the depreciation of Indian Rupee.

Net sales realization over LME was $ 445 per tonne during the quarter.

Aluminium COP was higher primarily on account of further tapering of coal linkage as per the Coal Block policy and higher operating cost of captive power plant due to maintenance shutdown of one of the units of 540 MW Captive Power Plant (CPP). The increase in aluminium COP on account of further coal tapering was Rs. 3,900 per tonne of aluminium in Q1 FY2014 as compared to Q1 FY2013.

The BALCO 1,200MW captive power plant is awaiting its consent to operate. We expect to tap first metal at the 325 ktpa BALCO-III aluminium smelter in Q3 FY2014. Having obtained both stages of forest clearance for the BALCO coal block, we are working on obtaining other approvals which are taking longer than expected, and we expect to commence mining in Q1 FY2015.