The company had reported a net profit of Rs 913.52 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company was up 4.33 per cent at Rs 10,692.40 crore during the quarter vis-a-vis Rs 10,248.77 crore of the October-December quarter of FY'12, it said in a filing to the BSE.

Total expenditure of the company inched up by nearly 3 per cent at Rs 9,011 crore, while its tax outgo declined by 29.64 per cent to Rs 355.53 crore during the quarter. Its interest costs also went up by 13 per cent to Rs 226.85 crore.

In a separate statement, Sterlite said its core profits reflected "improved operational efficiencies, marginally higher metal prices and premiums and improved sales realisation due to rupee depreciation, which were partially offset by lower by-product realisations".

Commenting on the results, company's Chairman Anil Agrawal said, "Sterlite Industries continues to maintain its strong performance and leadership position. We have substantially improved our efficiencies, operational performance and metal production across businesses."

Besides, its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc plans to add 1.2 million tonnes per annum new capacity for about USD 1.5 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) and it will be invested over a six-year period, the company said.

Talking about Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) --an associate firm--, the company said improved operational performance and lower foreign exchange losses decreased Sterlite's share of loss by 14 per cent in the VAL during the third quarter to Rs 226 crore.

VAL, which had suspended operations in December at its Lanjigarh alumina refinery due to paucity of bauxite, is in talks with "concerned authorities and other stakeholders for sourcing of bauxite from Odisha and other states to restart" the refinery, it added.

Bauxite availability issues also impacted VAL's alumina production, which was down by nearly 56 per cent to 1.04 lakh tonnes during the quarter.

Moreover, the company said it expects to commence operations of the Vizag coal berth during the current quarter and has already obtained provisional commercial operations declaration.

The project, for which it had won 30-year contract in October 2010, is being implemented at a total project cost of USD 150 million through Vizag General Cargo Berth Private Limited (VGCB).

Shares of the company today fell by 0.70 per cent to close at Rs 113.25 apiece on the BSE.