BIZ-LD RESULTS-HINDALCO

Aditya Birla group flagship

Hindalco Industries Friday reported 21.4 per cent decline in

standalone net profit at Rs 308.6 crore for the three months

to September roiled by rising input costs and surging imports,

which whittled down an otherwise strong business performance.

Total income rose to Rs 11,034.3 crore from Rs

10,500.6 crore, boosted by an 18 percent rise in revenue from

aluminium to Rs 6,135 crore.

Operating margin rose to Rs 1,364 crore, a growth of

13 per cent over the year-ago period, boosted by supporting

macros, partially offset by increase in the input prices.

The company has achieved consistent aluminium

production of 326 Kt in Q2, as its plants continued to operate

at peak designed capacities.

"We have registered strong quarterly results, despite

the challenging business environment, rising input costs of

coal and surge in imports," Hindalco managing director Satish

Pai told reporters here this evening.

"Although, aluminium prices on the LME went down by

USD 200 to USD 2000 a tonne during the quarter, the falling

rupee has helped our topline. We sold more aluminium during

the quarter despite strong monsoons on the East Coast," Pai

said, adding domestic demand for the metal also grew by 12 per

cent during the reporting quarter.

The net debt ratio improved further to 2.47x from

2.67x in March 2018. Under its continuous deleveraging

programme. It has prepaid another Rs 1,575 crore in October.

"We continue our focus on strengthening the balance

sheet, resource securitisation and the strategy is to grow in

the downstream businesses to deliver long-term shareholder

value," he said.

Overseas subsidiary, Novelis will continue to play a

crucial role in supporting the next generation of automotive

innovation and design, as the market demand for lighter and

more fuel-efficient vehicles grows, he said.

Applications for acquisition of the US-based aluminium

producer Aleris filed with the concerned authorities are at

various stages of approval, he said.

"We expect the transaction to close in about 9-15

months from the date of the announcement of the transaction.

Novelis had secured financing for the pending Aleris

acquisition by entering into commitment letters with a group

of banks to provide up to USD 775 million of incremental term

loan with a five-year maturity, and up to a USD 1.5 billion

short-term bridge loan with a one-year maturity," Paid said.

Hindalco had in July announced the plans to acquire

Aleris Corporation for USD 2.58 billion through its wholly-

owned subsidiary Novelis.

Utkal Alumina's brownfield capacity expansion is on

schedule and is expected to be operational by fiscal 2021, he

said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)