Norsk Hydro Q2 profits down as input costs outweigh strong aluminium price

OSLO (Thomson Financial) - Norsk Hydro ASA posted a year-on-year fall in underlying earnings, as the impact of a weakening US dollar and a rise in upstream input costs outweighed the benefit of higher aluminium prices. For the second quarter, the Norwegian aluminium firm posted underlying EBIT of 1.619 billion Norwegian crowns, down from 2.886 billion last time. Sales came in at 23.980 billion crowns, down from 25.042 billion a year ago. Hydro had already warned the market that its second quarter figures would be hit by higher input costs, and as a result the earnings came in largely in line with the market consensus. "Hydro experienced a drop in its second-quarter results due to the rising input costs affecting the entire industry," said chief executive Eivind Reiten. "While these pressures will likely remain for some time we continue to show strong operational performance. Particularly encouraging is the progress in our Rolled Products and Extrusion segments," he said. Source: Thomson Financial