Nalco pays record dividend as net profit jumps on low cost bauxite and alumina production and higher prices

Indian aluminium major NALCO said on August 29 that its net profit for 2017-18 doubled to INR 1,342 crore from INR 669 crore recorded one year ago credited it to its new business plan which has put the company on a new growth path.

"The company achieved highest net profit in last 10 years of Rs 1,342 crore in 2017-18 against Rs 669 crore earned in previous year," CMD of NALCO, Tapan Kumar Chand said on the sidelines of the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Navaratna company in Bhubaneshwar.

NALCO also achieved the highest-ever turnover of INR 9,376 crore since inception in last fiscal, registering a growth of 26 per cent YoY. The company registered export earnings of INR 4,076 crore, up 12 per cent YoY.

The company has also declared a record dividend payout of INR 1,102 crore or 114 per cent in 2017-18, an increase from 56 per cent in 2016-17.

Highlighting company’s performance, a top company official said North-Central block of Panchpatmali bauxite Mines achieved 100 per cent capacity utilisation in 2017-18 fiscal. The mines transported 6.8 million tonnes of bauxite for the second year in a row. The company recorded a growth of 7.65 per cent in its bauxite production in 2016-17 fiscal from 6.340 million tonnes in 2015-16 and continued maintaining the optimum production.

Panchpatmali Bauxite mines, rated as the second lowest cost producer in the World in 2017 as per report of Wood Mackenzie, is aiming to become the lowest cost bauxite producer in FY 2018-19.

The company is also the lowest cost producer of alumina in the world consecutively for the two years - 2016 and 2017 - as per report of Wood Mackenzie, a leading research and consultancy group.

The company achieved highest cast metal production of 4.26 lakh tonnes in in 2017-18, registering a growth of 9.8 per cent over last year.

The dividend payout, approved in the 37th Annual General Meeting, stood at INR 5.70 per equity share of INR 5 each, a company statement said. This is the highest dividend payout since the inception of the company in 1981.