“By the second half of this year, you should start to see a very positive turn to Novelis,” he said on Tuesday.
Hindalco Industries, which reported its consolidated earnings on Tuesday, saw a 30% jump in its consolidated net profit for the June quarter at Rs 4,004 crore, with consolidated revenue from operations 13% higher at Rs 64,232 crore.
Novelis, the wholly-owned US-based subsidiary of the company, reported a 36% fall in its net income for the June quarter at $96 million, while the adjusted EBITDA made on each tonne of aluminium stood at $432, down by 18% on-year. Structurally higher scrap prices negatively impacted performance during the quarter, Novelis said on Monday.
“Scrap spreads have started to improve, most particularly in the US. So, we are now hoping, that will get better in the coming quarters,” Pai said on Tuesday. “The supply of scrap in the US has also gone up, so scrap spreads are no more a headwind, but have started to become a tailwind,” he said on a call after the company’s quarterly earnings.
The September and December quarters of the last fiscal were the peak in terms of scrap prices, he said, with prices now turning favourable.While the June quarter is the “bottom” in many ways, the September quarter will be similar. “By Q3, Q4 of this year, you are going to see a much stronger and healthier Novelis,” he said. Earnings in the second half of the year will reflect the impact of mitigation of the spreads, cost reduction programmes and the scrap spreads improving, Pai said.For its upstream aluminium business in India, Hindalco’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 17% on-year to Rs 4,080 crore. The upstream EBITDA per tonne stood at $1,467, up 15% compared to the previous year. In the downstream aluminium business, EBITDA per tonne surged 92% on-year to $264, while EBITDA was at a record high of Rs 229 crore, up 108% on-year.In the copper business, EBITDA stood at Rs 673 crore, with the sharply declining TC/RCs offset by higher realisation from sulphuric acid, the company said in a statement. At a consolidated level, the company’s EBITDA rose 9% on-year to Rs 8,673 crore.
Hindalco reported its earnings during market hours and its shares closed at Rs 666.95 apiece on the BSE, down 0.7% from the previous close.
