(Reuters) - Indian mining company Vedanta Resources Plc (>> Vedanta Resources plc) said on Thursday it has extended Chief Executive Tom Albanese's contract by five months until the end of August.

The three-year contract was due to expire on Friday.

Vedanta's executive chairman Anil Agarwal is leading the succession process to identify candidates to replace Albanese, the company said.

Vedanta was hit by the slump in commodities prices. Its revenue fell 16.6 percent last year to 10.7 billion pounds, its lowest in six years, while profit before tax, excluding special items, plunged 79.5 percent.

Vedanta's shares have fallen 12.4 percent since Albanese, the former head of Rio Tinto Plc (>> Rio Tinto plc) (>> Rio Tinto Limited), took the helm in April 2014.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Stocks treated in this article : Rio Tinto Limited, Rio Tinto plc, Vedanta Resources plc