Gold Silver Reports – Aditya Birla Group’s flagship Hindalco Industries posted a decline in standalone profit for the quarter through September, hurt by an exceptional item.
Net income for the aluminium major fell 11% from a year earlier to `393 crore in the past quarter, when it took a `106 crore provisioning based on recent judgements by the Supreme Court.
Revenue from operations increased 8% to `10,308 crore and operating profit rose 6% to `1,577 crore.
While higher aluminium volumes and favourable macro factors supported the performance, increased input costs and lower copper volumes offset part of the gains.
The Ebitda of `1,577 crore was the highest for the company for a quarter in the past 7-8 years, managing director Satish Pai told ET.
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At its American subsidiary Novelis, which is a can and auto sheet major, shipments rose 4% to a record 802 kilo tonnes. The unit reported a net income of $307 million `1,982 crore) for the quarter, (` as against a loss of $89 million a year earlier. On the consolidated debt front, the company prepaid `7,966 crore in the current fiscal year. As a result, interest expense fell 19%.
While aluminium production for the quarter rose 2% year on year, copper output in cathode fell 10% owing to certain operational issues. CC rod production declined 7% due to subdued demand.
Pai expects prices on the London Metal Exchange to firm up in the next six months and demand to pick up from the second half. “We will try to benefit from the two factors,“ Pai said.
The company’s stock closed 0.61% lower at `268.50 Friday on the BSE , where the benchmark Sensex rose 0.33%. – Neal Bhai Reports
