Vedanta Posts Biggest FTSE 100 Advance on Production

Vedanta Resources Plc, the metals producer controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, led gains on the benchmark FTSE 100 Index of stocks in London trading after reporting record production. Vedanta advanced 13 percent after saying aluminum production gained 31 percent to 134,000 metric tons in the fourth quarter through March. The company also said it would complete the first phase of a smelter in India’s Orissa state by the end of June 2010, six months ahead of schedule. “Aluminum and zinc had strong full-year production,” Michael Rawlinson, an analyst in London at Liberum Capital, wrote today in a note. Vedanta is “well positioned for a recovery, with cash and best-in-sector near-term growth plans.” Development projects are all “on track,” he said. The second stage of the Jharsuguda aluminum smelter in Orissa, which will double output at the plant to 500,000 tons, will be complete by the end of March 2011, Vedanta said today. The London-based company rose 100.5 pence to close at 873.5 pence. The stock has climbed 43 percent this year, boosting Vedanta’s market value to 2.43 billion pounds ($3.5 billion). Refined zinc production rose 12 percent to 151,000 tons last quarter, Vedanta said today. Copper cathode, a finished form of the metal, from plants in Zambia, India and Australia fell 0.8 percent to 123,000 tons, the company added. Vedanta said Nov. 6 it’s persevering with a plan to become the world’s fifth-largest aluminum producer even as prices of the metal fall. It also aims to bolster zinc output in India. The price of aluminum for delivery in three months traded on the London Metal Exchange has declined 50 percent in the past year.