Hindalco Industries today reported a 23 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 334 crore for the quarter ended December, 2013, primarily due to lower revenues from copper business and higher tax outgo.
The flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group had reported a net profit of Rs 433.52 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2012-13, it said in a filing to the BSE.
Net sales of Hindalco was up 5.85 per cent in December 2013 quarter due to meagre growth of 3.34 per cent in revenues from copper business, which stood at Rs 4,816.71 crore. This negated the impact of 11.55 per cent rise in revenues from aluminium business at Rs 2,471.26 crore.
The company had reported a net sales of Rs 6,871.72 crore in the third quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.
Besides, the tax outgo rose by over 23 per cent to Rs 134.73 crore in this fiscal's third quarter, while total expenditure was Rs 6,843.41 crore. The finance cost of Hindalco was Rs 165.16 crore.
In a separate statement, the company said that its revenues from operations rose by 15 per cent on quarter-on-quarter basis as it was "driven by higher volume".
Improved operating efficiencies cushioned the adverse impact of higher input cost and lower realisation, Hindalco said, adding that "net profit has been lower due to higher effective tax rate for the quarter".
Talking about its greenfield projects, the company said that Mahan smelter in Madhya Pradesh produced 18,000 tonnes of aluminium metal, while Utkal Alumina project in Odisha produced 87,000 tonnes of alumina in the last quarter.
The company also produced first metal from the Aditya smelter last month, it said.
Following the results, shares of the company fell 3.19 per cent to close at Rs 100.20 a piece on the BSE today.
