(Adds details, analyst comment.)
By Jeffrey Sparshott
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)
Vedanta and its subsidiaries so far this year have raised $3.35 billion in the capital and equity markets to fund a series of growth projects and acquisitions.
"In a period when many of our peers were cutting back production and investments in growth, I am pleased to report continuing investment and volume growth across all commodities," Chairman Anil Agarwal said in a statement.
The company trimmed spending last year as commodity markets crashed and project prices fell, and suspended its 1,980 megawatt power plant project at Talwandi in India. Now, the company expects to spend $2.15 billion on the commercial power plant, which is expected to be commissioned in about four years.
The company earlier this year announced expansion of its copper smelting and pig iron production capacity, a sign of rising demand for the commodities.
Cazenove analyst Amos Fletcher said the company is well positioned to fund its projects.
"The balance sheet looks, if anything, overcapitalized, which suggests plenty of capacity to continue growing aggressively but may herald deal risk," he said in a note to clients.
Still, the company's results reflected volatile commodity prices during the six months to Sept. 30.
Net profit attributable to equity shareholders was $188.2 million during the period, compared with $350 million during the same period a year earlier. The market had expected net profit of $158 million, according to a company survey of eight analysts.
Revenue fell 25% to $2.98 billion from $3.97 billion.
The company said it plans to pay an interim dividend of 17.5 cents, compared with 16.5 cents a year earlier.
Vedanta is a FTSE100 diversified metals and mining company that produces aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, iron ore and commercial energy at operations in India, Zambia and Australia. The bulk of operations are in India.
Vedanta's shares closed Wednesday at 2290 pence, up more than threefold from 611 pence at the start of the year.
Company Web site: www.vedantaresources.com
-By Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 9347; jeffrey.sparshott@dowjones.com