
Hindalco Industries is well-positioned for a bounce back in the second half of the current financial year (FY21). “We should be back to pre-Covid levels in the second half of FY21," Hindalco Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told shareholders at the company’s 61st annual general meeting held in Mumbai.

Birla said: “The Indian economy delivered subdued performance last year with FY20 GDP (gross domestic product) growth falling to 4.2 per cent. We witnessed contraction in the first quarter (Q1) on account of widespread shutdowns. Despite this slump in Q1, activity levels are gradually normalising and I remain confident that India’s long-term growth potential remains intact despite the setback.”
Hindalco’s upstream plants are operating at near full capacity with all logistics infrastructure coming back on track. All downstream plants are operating at partial capacity to meet market conditions. Novelis’ all plants are operational, and many are now running at their full capacity. All the automotive customers in North America and China are now pulling at nearly pre-Covid levels,”
He said export demand continues to offset subdued domestic market conditions.
The company continues to reduce its exposure to London Metal Exchange’s price fluctuations by increasing share of downstream value-added products across businesses. “In FY20, we have succeeded in delinking 80 per cent of Hindalco’s consolidated Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) from the LME,” said Birla.
“All our smelters continue to be in the first quartile of the global cost curve. Cash conservation and maintaining adequate liquidity will help us deliver sustained performance despite the current tough environment due to Covid-19,” he said.
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