Hindalco Q1 profit falls 40% on lower revenue

livemint.com:

Hindalco Industries Ltd, the flagship of the Aditya Birla group, on Tuesday said consolidated net profit in the June quarter fell 40% from a year earlier to ₹2,454 crore as revenues declined. Revenue from operations stood at ₹52,991 crore, a 9% decline from a year earlier. Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) stood at ₹6,109 crore, and the Ebitda margin at 11%.

Among segments, revenue in the upstream aluminium business was ₹8,064 crore, down 7.29% from the previous year. Segment Ebitda stood at ₹1,935 crore, down 40% over the same period last year. In the downstream aluminium business, revenue stood at ₹2,435 crore, a 12.3% decline.

Revenue at Hindalco’s overseas subsidiary Novelis fell 14.5% to ₹33,606 crore on fewer shipments and lower-than-average aluminium prices. “Total shipments of flat rolled products were at 879 kilo tonnes (kt) in Q1 FY24 vs 936 kt in Q4 FY23, down 6% QoQ (quarter -on-quarter) due to lower beverage can shipments and unfavourable economic conditions impacting some specialities markets mainly in building and construction, partially offset by record automotive shipments," the company added in a statement. Revenue from the copper business rose 9.2% from ₹10,529 crore to touch ₹11,502 crore, but Ebitda fell 6% to ₹531 crore from ₹565 crore.

“The copper business, in spite of the fact that we had a shutdown, still had record sales of 118 kt because we made up the shortfall of cathodes by importing and then converting to raw... In the Indian market, copper demand was very strong," said Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco. Hindalco shares closed at ₹455.05 on the BSE on Tuesday, down 2.08% from their previous close.