Hindalco¡¯s profits hurt by falling aluminium prices

Hindalco Industries Ltd’s profitability took a hit in the March quarter, compared with the December quarter. Though its aluminium output rose smartly as its new capacity ramped up, falling prices and weaker metal premiums affected realizations. The copper business did relatively better but its profitability, too, declined. Aluminium production rose by 11.5% while that of copper rose 5.3%.

In the March quarter, Hindalco’s stand-alone revenue rose by 8.9% to INR9,371.6 crore, over the preceding quarter, with aluminium leading the way with a 13.9% increase. But the aluminium division’s segment profit fell by a massive 20.3%, and copper segment’s profit fell by 1.6%. Lower realizations hurt aluminium margins, while copper suffered due to adverse market conditions, according to a company release which did not elaborate further. Vedanta Ltd had said that its treatment and refining charges, the main revenue for the copper smelting business, was flat over the preceding quarter.

Since both divisions saw profits decline, Hindalco’s operating profit fell by 8.2%, with margin slipping by 1.7 percentage points. Lower profitability, when depreciation and interest costs have increased, caused a 20.8% decline in its profit before tax and before one-time items.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.