Cash conservation, adequate liquidity to help Hindalco deliver sustained performance : Birla

In his address to shareholders at 61st Annual General Meeting of Hindalco Industries, Birla said in the ongoing COVID-19 environment, the company's first and foremost priority was to protect the health and safety of workforce. "Cash conservation and maintaining adequate liquidity will help us deliver sustained performance," he said.

Hindalco Industries Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Thursday said cash conservation and maintaining adequate liquidity will help the company deliver sustained performance despite the current tough environment on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. In his address to shareholders at 61st Annual General Meeting of Hindalco Industries, Birla said in the ongoing COVID-19 environment, the company's first and foremost priority was to protect the health and safety of workforce.

"Cash conservation and maintaining adequate liquidity will help us deliver sustained performance," he said. All the plants, including mines, of the company were operating in line with the government guidelines as regards safe operations.

"All our aluminium upstream plants continue to operate at near full capacity with all logistics infrastructure coming back on track," he said. All aluminium downstream plants were operating at partial capacity to meet market conditions, Birla said.

The export demand remains stable and continues to offset the current subdued domestic market conditions. "The copper facilities are also ramping up to their optimal levels. At 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-19 levels,"he said.

On a broader level, the company's strategy of improving business sustainability by reducing the exposure to London Metal Exchange (LME) price fluctuations and increasing the share of downstream value-added products across businesses was playing out well, he said. "Company will continue to strengthen the balance sheet through growth strategies and generating positive free cash flows. What continues to hurt the domestic aluminium and copper industry is low cost imports," he said.

In response, the company is maintaining a relentless focus on better efficiencies and cost competitiveness. The pandemic, Birla said, has been instrumental in redefining the tenets of business sustainability.

"It’s clear that companies need to look beyond survival and short term goals, to stay true to a core purpose, to deliver societal benefits, and to ensure a future that is designed around the needs of all stakeholders," he said. He further said despite the slump in June quarter GDP, the activity levels are gradually normalising.

"I remain confident that India’s long-term growth potential remains intact despite the COVID-19 setback," he said..