Hindalco Industries Limited, the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2007.
Net sales and operating revenues have grown by 7 per cent to Rs.4,959.7 crores as compared to Rs. 4,634.2 crores in the corresponding period in FY07. Despite the strengthening of the rupee, which resulted in the lowering of aluminium prices, net profit for the quarter at Rs. 642.8 crores is up by 8 per cent, vis-à-vis Rs. 597.6 crores in the corresponding period of previous year.
Of the total revenue of Rs. 4,959.7 crores, aluminium business contributed Rs. 1,785 crores on the back of production growth of 8 percent. Margins were maintained due to increased Value added products, better sales mix and higher sales volume. The value added products in volume terms increased by 11 percent and 15 per cent in Rolled products and Extrusion products respectively.
The profit before interest and tax for aluminium business was lower at Rs. 662 crores from Rs. 671 crores in the corresponding quarter in the earlier year mainly on account of the sharp appreciation of the Rupee against USD and the impact of custom duty cut on imports. The rupee has appreciated 11percent from Rs. 46.21/USD in Q2 FY 07 to Rs. 41.15/USD in the current quarter. On the positive side, the aluminium business benefited from higher LME prices, greater efficiencies, enhanced volumes through better capacity utilization and reduced input costs due to better procurement management.
In the copper business, revenue stood at Rs.3178.3 crores from Rs. 2782.5 crores in Q2FY07driven by higher sales volumes and realization resulting from an enriched product mix. The profit before interest and tax grew marginally at Rs. 126.1 crores from Rs. 123.3 crores in the corresponding quarter last year despite the fall in TcRc due to better by-product realization and improvement in operational efficiency.
The improvement in the market mix resulting from increased duty paid sales was setoff by the reduction in the duty differential. The grid power usage was lower on account of improved captive power availability and a significant improvement in energy consumption.
