Hindalco’s Q1 profit rises on higher prices of aluminium

Mumbai: India’s biggest aluminium producer, Hindalco Industries Ltd, said first-quarter profit rose as higher metal prices helped offset a drop in smelting fees. Net income for the quarter rose to Rs697 crore ($165 million) in the quarter from Rs599 crore a year ago, the company said in a statement on Monday. Earnings beat the Rs612 crore median estimate of five analysts Bloomberg surveyed. Cash prices of aluminium averaged $2,947.14 a tonne in the quarter, up 7% from a year earlier. Cuts in the fees smelters, including Hindalco, charge mining companies to process ore into metal are curbing earnings at metal processors across Asia. Hindalco in January accepted a 25% reduction in the fee it charges BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s biggest miner, to process copper, its second biggest product. Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd, the Australian copper mining unit of Hindalco, said on22 July quarterly output from its Nifty and Mt Gordon operations fell 14% to 16,255 tonnes in the June quarter on lower grades and plant repairs. Shares of Hindalco fell 2.21% to close at Rs146.15, each, on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. Source:Bloomberg