Hindalco, the flagship of the Aditya Birla group, announced 8 per cent jump in its net profit for the third quarter of 2014-15 at Rs.359 crore. The company’s revenues rose 18 per cent to Rs.8,603 crore during the quarter and operating profit was up 36 per cent at Rs.1,135 crore.
The profitability would have been even better but for the increased allocation to depreciation at Rs.216 crore and 171 per cent rise in finance costs at Rs.447 crore owing to the progressive capitalisation of the greenfield projects.
According to a company statement, the higher sales reflect increased volume and better realisation in both the aluminium and copper businesses. The aluminium business contributed Rs.3,636 crore while copper revenue’s share was Rs.4,976 crore. During the period, aluminium production was up 37 per cent following the ongoing ramp-up at Mahan smelter and Aditya smelter.
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“Coal availability is posing a significant challenge for ongoing pot ramp-up at the upcoming Mahan and Aditya smelters,’’ the company said, adding that downstream value added products were impacted by adverse market demand conditions. “With the coal auction planned shortly, the company is looking forward to a faster resolution of the coal availability issue,” it said.