Hindalco Q3 profit plunges nearly 89% on sharp fall in metal prices

Aditya Birla Group firm Hindalco Industries on Tuesday reported 88.74 per cent plunge in standalone net profit to INR 40.46 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, due to a sharp fall in metal prices. The company had reported a standalone net profit of INR 359 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing to the BSE. Its total income from operations declined to INR 8,150.27 crore during the quarter under review from INR 8,603.03 crore in the year-ago period.

Total expenses declined to INR 7,786.65 crore during the third quarter (Q3) as against INR 7,895.96 crore in the year-ago quarter. Operating results for the quarter were severely impacted by the sharp drop in London Metal Exchange prices and regional aluminium premium, the macroeconomic factors beyond the company's control. As a result, combined decline in realisations on a year-on-year basis was over $700 per tonne (nearly INR 47,530) of aluminium," the company said in a statement.

"However, strong operating performance on the back of ramp up of new age smelters, partly aided by softer input prices helped us in partly mitigating the realisation pressure. The Mahan smelter is now operating at full capacity and the Aditya smelter is well on course of full ramp up," it added.

It said revenues for the quarter were down by 5 per cent due to a sharp decline in aluminium and copper realisations. However, a strong increase in aluminium volumes and thrust on value addition partially offset the impact of severe fall in realisations.

The company said in line with its long-term strategy with regard to its coal mix, the first of the four coal blocks won in the auction - Gare Palma IV/4 has started producing coal towards the quarter. It said depreciation and finance costs were higher by INR 227 crore over that of INR 663 crore reported in the 2014-15 quarter given the "progressive capitalisation of greenfield projects".

"During the quarter alumina production at 705-kilotonnes (KT) was 19 per cent higher as compared with Q3 of FY15," Hindalco said and added, "aluminium metal production stood at 296 KT and was up 35 per cent on year-on-year basis." The copper segment continued to deliver a solid performance with steady cathode production at 94 KT while fertiliser production jumped 9 per cent to 89 KT.