Hindalco Ltd Shares Q3 Results

For the Dec-21 quarter, Hindalco Industries reported 43.8% growth in total sales revenues at Rs.50,272 crore on a consolidated YoY basis. During the December 2021 quarter, the Canadian unit of Hindalco, Novelis, reported flat shipments at 930KT. That was largely because the ongoing semiconductor shortage had an impact on numbers. India aluminium business saw the sales of aluminium metal just about 3% higher at 325 KT in Q3.

However, the icing in the cake was the sharp 8% growth in the sales of aluminium value added products or VAP products as they are called. The production of these VAP products stood at 86 KT. Meanwhile, output at Utkal alumina refinery expanded to full capacity. In the copper vertical, cathode production doubled to 102 KT while overall metals sales volumes climbed 50% at 110KT. Net debt to equity improved from 2.59X to 1.62X YoY.

Here is a quick look at the operating performance of Hindalco in the Dec-21 quarter. For the quarter, the operating profits of the company were up 39.9% at Rs.7,580 crore levels. For the Canadian Novelis operations, the EBITDA was 15% higher at $506 million while EBITDA per tonne came in at $544/tonne with the EBITDA growth coming on better operating efficiencies. Operating profits were marginally lower by -1.58% on a sequential basis.

The India aluminium business saw record surge in EBITDA by 131% to levels of Rs.3,376 crore, despite a very tepid growth in the top line. This growth in EBITDA came on the back of better operational efficiencies and better downstream performance and product mix. EBITDA margins improved sharply from 28% to 41% on YoY basis. Copper EBITDA was up 63% YoY at Rs.390 crore on improved product realizations. Overall it was a robust quarter.

Let us finally turn to the  bottom line of Hindalco for the December 2021 quarter. The Profit after tax (PAT) for the Dec-21 quarter was up 95.8% at Rs.3,675 crore, a record of sorts. This was on the back of improved operating efficiencies and better product mix that favoured downstream products. This resulted in better traction on the bottom line growth on a yoy basis.

In the last one year, the global price of aluminium has rallied by a whopping 44% on the London Metal Exchange (LME) from $1,916/tonne to $2,762/tonne. PAT margins also showed an improvement from 5.37% in the Dec-20 quarter to 7.31% in the Dec-21 quarter. The PAT margins were higher by 14 bps on a sequential basis, showing solid short term momentum in profits.