 "Hindalco Industries Q2FY24 results: Net profit flat at Rs 2,196 crore")
Aditya Birla Group's metal flagship Hindalco Industries on Friday said its consolidated profit for the July-September quarter of 2023-24 (Q2FY24) was flat at Rs 2,196 crore due to accounting-related adjustments at its US subsidiary.
The revenue for the quarter under review stood at Rs 54,169 crores, a dip of 3.6 per cent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis.
In a media call post-Q2FY24 earnings, Satish Pai, managing director, said the dip in revenues was on the back of lower London Metal Exchange (LME) prices.
He added that the net profit was flat on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis owing to adjustments made for accounting standards at its US subsidiary Novelis.
The company beat Street estimates on revenue but missed it on profit reported in the quarter under review.
In a Bloomberg poll, nine analysts estimated a revenue of Rs 47,805 crore, and 10 analysts estimated an adjusted net income of Rs 2,214 crore.
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Sequentially, Hindalco’s net profit was down 10.5 per cent.
Hindalco in its statement said, the net profit was in line with the prior year quarter, and down sequentially due to accounting adjustments arising out of conversion from US GAAP to Ind AS. All the business segments experienced improved sequential performance.
Pai, on the media call, said the planned capex of Rs 8,000 crore to set up a 2 million-tonne greenfield alumina refinery in Odisha will be completed in the next 36 months. Further, the commissioning timeline for the planned recycling facility for 50 kilo tonnes (KT) copper is expected in the next 18-24 months.
In its outlook for business, Pai said the company should repeat the Q2FY24 performance in the ongoing quarter. He added the worst is behind them for Hindalco's US subsidiary Novelis.
Pai expects aluminum and copper demand in India to remain robust on the back of demand from realty, power transformers, and electrification, including railway. Pai added: “Concerned about any sudden sharp increase of aluminum exports in India from China.”
On new businesses, Pai said the company will look at all the critical minerals that can be extracted as part of the ores that Hindalco already deals with.