Country's top iron ore miner NMDC today reported a 30.45 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 1,292.89 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 over a year-ago period mainly on account of a decline in sales.

The state-run PSU had reported a net profit of Rs 1,858.81 crore during the third quarter of the fiscal 2011-12.

The net sales of the Hyderabad-headquartered company declined by 27.46 per cent to Rs 2,046.83 crore in the October-December 2012 quarter, the company said.

The iron ore miner had reported a net sales of Rs 2,821.95 crore during the corresponding quarter of the last financial year.

The company had reduced iron ore prices by 2-11 per cent in October, which was followed by 3-11 per cent cut in November.

It however did not tweak prices in December, primarily to pacify steel makers which accused the state-owned firm of selling iron ore at a higher cost domestically and exporting at cheaper rates.

NMDC has 32 million tonnes per annum iron ore production capacity at its mines in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

The miner's total expenses also rose by 16.11 per cent to Rs 690.30 crore during the quarter under review.

"During the quarter, the central government holding in the company has come down from 90 per cent to 80 per cent as the government has divested 10 per cent of its holding in the company," NMDC said in the filing to the BSE.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2012, the company reported a decline of nearly 13.26 per cent in its net profit to Rs 4,877.42 crore, while its net sales was down 13.46 per cent to Rs 7,500.02 crore.

The company, the largest producer of the key steel-making raw material in the country, produced 175.56 lakh tonnes iron ore during the first nine months of the current fiscal, a 13.3 per cent dip over 202.79 lakh tonnes produced a year ago.

Sales also declined by 13.47 per cent during the April- December period to stand at 180.38 lakh tonnes against 208.45 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last fiscal.

In value-terms also, sales declined by 13.31 per cent to Rs 7,475 crore from Rs 8,623 crore during the April-December period of the last fiscal.

NMDC shares closed today at Rs 146.75 apiece on the BSE, down 0.24 per cent from the previous close.