Income from operations increased by 16% year-over-year (YoY) to Rs 38,546 crore during the quarter, driven by higher sales volume and favorable arbitration award in oil and gas, partially offset by a slip in output commodity prices.

EBITDA jumped by 70% to Rs 11,834 crore in Q2 FY24 from Rs 6,975 crore in Q2 FY23. EBITDA margin in Q2 FY24 was 35%, as against 24% in Q2 FY23.

The company’s finance costs have risen by 20% to Rs 2,523 crore in Q2 FY24 from Rs 2,110 crore recorded in the same period last year, mainly due to an increase in average borrowings and the blended cost of borrowings.

Profit before tax in Q2 FY24 stood at Rs 8,177 crore, which is almost double as compared with a PBT of Rs 4,086 crore recorded in the corresponding period last fiscal.

On the taxation front, tax charge amounted to Rs 2,551 crore, tax on exceptional item was Rs 413 crore and net tax expense on account of adoption of new tax rate was Rs 6,128 crore.

Gross debt was at Rs 74,473 crore as on 30 September 2023 as against Rs 73,484 crore as on 30 June 2023. Cash and cash equivalents position as on 30 September 2023 was Rs 16,702 crore.

Arun Misra, executive director, Vedanta, said “I am pleased to share that we have a quarter of highest ever 2Q turnover of ₹38,546 crores with highest ever 2Q EBITDA of ₹11,834 crores on the back of strong operational volume delivery and aggressive cost reduction across the table in all businesses.

Strong believer of expanding our portfolio, we are steadfast in our growth journey and are progressing well in all growth projects announced so far with capex worth approximately $8.4 billion. With this our revenue is estimated to uptick by $4 billion and EBITDA by $1 billion.

We remain well positioned, with a rich diversified asset portfolio, strong balance sheet, and cost optimization levers, to withstand challenging macroeconomic environment.”

Vedanta, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading natural resources companies spanning across India, South Africa, Namibia, Liberia, UAE, Korea, Taiwan and Japan with significant operations in oil & gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel, nickel, aluminium, power & glass substrate and foraying into semiconductors and display glass.

The scrip had gained 1.66% to end at Rs 232.85 on the BSE yesterday.