India's Hindustan Zinc beats quarterly profit estimates
India's top refined zinc producer's consolidated net profit fell 4.7% to 22.34 billion rupees ($259.2 million) for the quarter ended June 30, beating analysts' estimate of 21.02 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Demand for zinc, which is commonly used to coat steel to prevent corrosion, grew on the back of strong local demand for the alloy, with crude steel production rising 8.6% on-year in the country, analysts said.
However, metal prices came under pressure in the reported quarter as geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around U.S. trade policies dragged down industrial metals like zinc, copper and aluminum, squeezing producer margins.
Domestic zinc prices fell about 6% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter in the June-quarter, in line with global trends, according to brokerage Systematix Research.
In April, Hindustan Zinc CFO Sandeep Modi told Reuters that uncertainties over U.S. tariffs would delay a stabilisation in metal prices, but he maintained that "fundamentally prices will remain strong."
Benchmark zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange fell 3.5% in the quarter ended June 30.
Hindustan Zinc, which commands roughly three-fourths of India's zinc market, reported a 4% drop in total revenue from operations to 77.71 billion rupees.
($1 = 86.1750 Indian rupees)
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