EconomyCompanies
Hindalco posts record quarterly profit of ₹7,533 crore, up 59%, as copper and aluminium shine
The Aditya Birla group's metals company beat market estimates for July to September, with revenue up 39% to ₹91,708 crore and a record from its copper business, though its debt has climbed.
Key points
- Consolidated net profit rose 59% to ₹7,533 crore, from ₹4,741 crore a year earlier.
- Copper earnings hit a record ₹1,673 crore, up 164%.
- Net debt rose to ₹80,435 crore at the end of September.
Hindalco Industries, the Aditya Birla group’s metals company, on Friday reported its highest ever quarterly profit. Consolidated net profit for July to September rose 59% to ₹7,533 crore, from ₹4,741 crore a year earlier, and revenue from operations climbed 39% to ₹91,708 crore from ₹66,058 crore.
The profit was well ahead of the street estimate of about ₹6,749 crore, and it was also about 7% higher than the ₹7,013 crore the company earned in April to June. It includes ₹284 crore of one-time income.
Copper and aluminium at home
The India business did most of the work. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 66% to ₹9,011 crore. The copper business had its best quarter yet, with EBITDA of ₹1,673 crore, up 164%, while upstream aluminium, the smelting side that gains most from higher global prices, earned ₹7,009 crore, up 55%, at a margin of 52%.
Across all its businesses, Hindalco’s segment EBITDA was ₹13,869 crore, against ₹9,104 crore a year ago. The company said nearly half its earnings now come from businesses that do not track the London Metal Exchange price directly: Novelis, copper and downstream aluminium.
Novelis recovers
Novelis, the US-based maker of rolled aluminium for drinks cans and cars that Hindalco owns, raised its adjusted EBITDA 20% to $508 million, on net sales of $5.9 billion. It shipped slightly less metal, 919 kilotonnes against 941 a year earlier, but earned $553 for every tonne, up 23%. The quarter included $39 million in insurance recoveries for the 2025 fires at its Oswego plant in New York, taking the total recovered to $519 million.
Debt rises with expansion
The growth is costing money. Net debt rose to ₹80,435 crore on September 30, from ₹64,841 crore at the end of March, and the ratio of net debt to EBITDA rose to 1.80 times, from 1.23 a year earlier.
Hindalco is building a new Novelis plant at Bay Minette in the US state of Alabama, which it expects to begin commercial shipments in the April to June quarter of 2027. Phase 2 of its Aditya smelter in Odisha is on track to start producing metal in 2027-28. It has also added a 65 MW round-the-clock renewable power project at Aditya Aluminium, taking its renewable capacity to 643 MW.
The company was to discuss the results with analysts on a call at 4:30 pm.