Hindustan Zinc Profit Beats Estimates as Silver Earnings Surge

Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZ), India’s largest producer of the metal, reported its highest profit in five quarters, beating analysts’ estimates, after earnings from its silver business surged.

Net income rose 6 percent to 15.8 billion rupees ($286 million), or 3.74 rupees a share, in the three months ended June 30, the unit of London-based Vedanta Resources Plc (VED) said in a stock exchange filing. Sales fell 4 percent to 27.1 billion rupees.

Silver sales surged 70 percent to 3.9 billion rupees, while profit rose 82 percent to 3.5 billion rupees in the quarter. An almost 60 percent increase in other income and lower tax expenses helped the company beat a decline in prices of lead and zinc, its biggest products.

Zinc, used to rust-proof steel sheets, averaged 15 percent lower in the quarter, while the average lead price on the London Metal Exchange fell 23 percent. The two metals, which make up 83 percent of the company’s revenue, accounted for 55 percent of its profit, according to the statement.

Shares of Udaipur, Rajasthan-based Hindustan Zinc rose 0.7 percent to 119.80 rupees in Mumbai today. The stock has declined 13 percent in the past year, compared with a 7.3 percent drop in the benchmark Sensitive Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi at rsingh133@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Keenan at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net;