London: India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc said it saw early signs of global recovery as it posted a 44 percent fall in first-half earnings per share due to weaker metals prices.
"We appear to be witnessing the early signs of economic recovery globally," Chairman Anil Agarwal said on Thursday.
"We expect that the economic and industrial growth in India will help underpin the demand for our products."
London-listed Vedanta said EPS for the six months to end September fell to 68.5 cents from 121.4 cents last year, beating the consensus forecast of 57 cents from eight analysts polled by the company.
The group proposed an interim dividend of 17.5 cents, up from 16.5 cents last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 41 percent to USD 746 million, while revenue declined 25 percent to USD 2.98 billion.
The price of metals were hit hard last year amid the global financial crisis, but have recovered some of that lost ground this year.
The price of zinc, Vedanta's most profitable metal, has bounced 85 percent this year, but it is still 23 percent below its peak last year.
Earlier this month, Vedanta forecast higher production in the second half after it posted strong output gains for most metals in its fiscal second quarter.
Refined zinc output gained 12.5 percent in the first half to 280,000 tonnes, while production of iron ore, its next most profitable product, climbed 15.1 percent to 8.2 million tonnes.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 15:19