Hindalco Industries Q1 loss at Rs 709 cr; revenue drops to Rs 25,283 cr

Hindalco Industries on Friday posted a consolidated loss of Rs 709 crore for the quarter ended June 2020.

The compmany had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of 1,063 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago.

It said that "Q1 consolidated PAT for continuing businesses before tax-effected exceptional and special items stood at Rs 139 crore".

The Aditya Birla Group firm in a statement said that "on account of certain special items, including charitable contributions towards Covid relief, ex-gratia paid to employees for their contribution during Covid, and Aleris acquisition costs, the reported PAT was impacted".

The company, as a consequence, reported a loss of Rs 709 crore for the quarter.

"This also includes Rs 140 crore loss attributed to operations of Novelis (Lewisport and Duffel) that are in the process of divestiture," it said.

Its consolidated revenue from operations during the April-June quarter dropped to Rs 25,283 crore, from over Rs 29, 972 crore in Q1 FY2019-20.

Hindalco Industries Managing Director Satish Pai said, "I am pleased at our ability to forge ahead despite the weak post-Covid market scenario. All our aluminium India smelters operated at more than 90 per cent capacity during the lockdown."

"We maintained our sales volumes, with exports accounting for nearly 80 per cent of sales. This performance led to our Indian aluminium business recording an industry-high EBITDA margin," he added.

Novelis also delivered an industry-high EBITDA per tonne, amidst a challenging business environment, partly due to strong contribution by Aleris.

Novelis' automotive customers across regions are trending upwards, towards reaching pre-pandemic production levels, with record automotive shipments in China, the company said.

"We are seeing green shoots both in domestic and international markets and we are ready to handle the rise in demand," the statement said.

In a statement, the company which is a global leader in aluminium and copper said that it reported steady quarterly results, driven by a strong performance by India aluminium business, supported by lower input costs, stability in operations, and cost-saving actions.

After four consecutive years of record earnings, Novelis reported a net income (excluding tax-effected items) of USD 22 million in Q1 FY'21.

While Novelis' financial results were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, its performance was steadied by beverage can market resiliency and encouraged by the upward monthly demand trend in the automotive and specialty markets.

With regard to alumunium business in India, it said all smelters and major refineries continued to operate during the lockdown.

Reported revenue of Rs 4,436 crore in the first quarter over Rs 5,490 crore in Q1 FY'20 was down 19 per cent due to lower aluminium prices.

With smelter utilisation at 90 per cent in Q1 FY'21, Indian aluminium business achieved aluminium metal production of 2,91,000 tonnes.

The company's copper cathode production in the first quarter of FY'21 was impacted by disruptions in operations due to Covid-19, leading to lower production at 41,000 tonnes, down 46 per cent.

Hindalco has been mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through planned initiatives, along with strict precautionary actions to protect its people and operations.

All the aluminium smelters and major refineries operated at near full-scale. Its downstream plants operated at optimal capacity to meet existing market demand.

The Indian aluminium operations exported nearly 80 per cent of its production and maintained its sales volumes.

To keep its cash position strong against market volatility, the company implemented various cost-saving measures by optimising expenditure.

When lockdown restrictions started easing in phases, Hindalco exercised utmost caution and continued to operate its plants with minimal staff and stringent safety measures in place.

Early in the quarter, Novelis had to temporarily shut down some of its facilities to align with customer demand and reduce operating costs.

However, as many customers resumed production in May, Novelis was able to safely and reliably ramp back production to meet increasing order levels.

Now, all of its plants are operational and many are running at almost full capacity utilisation, the statement said.

Novelis completed the acquisition of Aleris on April 14, and the integration process has begun.

Divestment procedures for automotive assets in Lewisport in the US and Duffel in Europe are underway, the company said.

Hindalco Industries is the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. A $16.7 billion metals powerhouse, Hindalco is the world's largest aluminium rolling and recycling company, and a major player in copper. It is also one of Asia's largest producers of primary aluminium.