FY2024: Hindalco earns higher profit on account of record-breaking aluminium sales volume

Hindalco Industries Limited, Aditya Birla Group's flagship metal company, has announced its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of FY2024, which ended March 31. The company revealed that it concluded the year with strong results across all business segments, earning a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 10,155 crore, up 1 per cent from INR 10,097 crore a year ago. 

This significant increase in profit was primarily bolstered by Hindalco’s all-time high aluminium sales volume of 1.372 million tonnes, up 2 per cent year-on-year.

Hindalco's PAT at the end of Q4 FY2024 was INR 3,174 crore, which marked a substantial increase of 32 per cent year-on-year from INR 2,411 crore. 

Hindalco's consolidated EBITDA in FY2024 totalled INR 25,728 crore, up 7 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA in Q4 was INR 7,201 crore – 24 per cent higher than the last year. EBITDA earned from the upstream aluminium sector in Q4 FY2024 was INR 2,709 crore, which was also up by 24 per cent Y-o-Y. 

Hindalco's consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter was INR 55,994 crore, flat Y-o-Y and up by 6 per cent Q-o-Q, on account of better realisations and volume in India operations. From the upstream aluminium sector, the revenue generated in Q4 was INR 8,469 crore, compared to INR 8,050 crore during the same period last year. 

Downstream revenue was INR 2,920 crore, reflecting an increase of 6.65 per cent from INR 2,738 crore a year ago. Sales of downstream aluminium were 105,000 tonnes in Q4, up 17 per cent Y-o-Y and 16 per cent sequentially from 90,000 tonnes in Q4 FY2023. 

Hindalco also reported that its US arm Novelis shipped 951,000 tonnes of flat rolled products in Q4 FY2024, up 2 per cent Y-o-Y from 936,000 tonnes, supported by stronger demand from beverage packaging. But despite the increase in shipments, Novelis' Q4 revenue stood 7 per cent down Y-o-Y at $4.1 billion, impacted by lower aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange.

Novelis' adjusted EBITDA was $514 million, up 28 per cent Y-o-Y and 13 per cent Q-o-Q, buoyed by favourable metal mix and lower operating costs. 

Commenting on the results, Mr. Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco Industries, said: "Hindalco concluded the year with very strong results across all business segments. This was a clear testament to our strategic focus on value-added products and margin improvement. The Copper business has grown to become the 2nd largest in the world for Copper rods (excluding China). It achieved its best ever performance with sales crossing 500,000 tonnes for the first time, and an all-time high EBITDA for the quarter and the year. Similarly, the Aluminium India Upstream Business reported industry-best quarterly EBITDA margins of 32%, driven by higher volumes and cost optimisation. Our continued focus on enhancing share of the downstream segment is evident in its promising sales trajectory. Novelis demonstrated an improved EBITDA per tonne driven by lower operating costs, favourable metal benefits and market recovery."

He added, "We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and solid liquidity even after repaying INR 5,195 crore of debt in Hindalco India business during the year. This positions us well to stay on our growth track and drive our future organic growth plans with prudent capital allocation. On the ESG front, our large scale renewable and energy storage projects have put us well on track for our climate action targets, and we have further advanced our initiatives in waste recycling, protecting biodiversity and water conservation."