MUMBAI: Hindalco Industries Limited, the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, on Saturday reported a 255 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 440 crore in the quarter ended September 30, as compared to Rs 123 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue from operations during the quarter was Rs 9,562 crore, up marginally from Rs 9,561 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
“Revenues for the quarter were broadly stable, as the impact of higher aluminium revenues was largely negated by a sharp decline in copper realisation,” a company statement said. “Year-on-year (y-o-y), aluminium revenues were higher by almost 10 per cent on the back of strong volume growth, however a nine per cent drop in copper revenues negated this increase,” it added.
During the quarter, alumina production (including Utkal Alumina) at 726 kilo tonne (kt) was 16 per cent higher over the production in the same period last year. Aluminium metal production stood at 321 kt and was up 19 per cent on y-o-y basis. “Higher production, improved efficiencies, with the stabilisation of operations and supportive input costs resulted in a higher EBITDA of Rs 808 crore, an increase of 192 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year,” the company said. For the half year ended September 30, 2016, aluminium production was at 687 kt, higher by 14 per cent as the new plants ramped up to designated capacities.
The company said that copper business performance rebounded smartly owing to higher volumes and efficiency gains after the planned maintenance shutdown during the first quarter of the current financial year. Not only did it deliver the highest ever cathode volumes at 106 kt, but the efficiency gains allowed offsetting the impact of a sharp decline in co-product prices. “Year-on-year, the copper segment EBIDTA at Rs 366 crore was stable and 38 per cent higher on sequential basis,” it said.
“The macroeconomic headwinds still persist and the uncertain global macro factors pose several challenges. The price recovery is vulnerable to imminent Chinese capacity additions and smelter restarts. The high level of imports continues to impact domestic sales volumes,” the company added. The divestment of Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd (ABML), Australia was completed during the quarter. It said the transaction yielded a gain of Rs 145 crore and total cash consideration from this deal was Rs 367 crore.
