Hindalco Industries, the country’s second largest aluminium producer, posted a 24.68 per cent decline in fourth quarter profit at Rs 482.03 crore, mainly on account of fall in sales. The company had reported a standalone net profit of Rs 639.99 crore in the fourth quarter of 2011-12.

Net sales were down 8.56 per cent at Rs 6,915.59 crore during the quarter, with both the aluminium and copper businesses reporting decline in revenues.

Net sales fell higher than expected by analysts. The company said higher interest burden contributed to the drop in profit. Finance costs shot up to Rs 158 crore in the given quarter, compared with Rs 80 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Interest expenses for the company increased substantially by 96.9 per cent year on year to Rs 158 crore, on the back of new bonds raised during first half 2013.

Other income was also higher by 44 per cent year on year to Rs 231 crore. The EBITDA fell by 25 per cent at Rs 644 crore for the fourth quarter of FY13. Bhavesh Chauhan of Angel Broking said: “Hindalco’s net sales declined mainly on account of lower volumes.

In the aluminium segment, both alumina and aluminium production fell by 4.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent year on year to 330 kilo-tonnes and 142 kilo-tonnes respectively.”

While aluminium segment net sales declined 4.1 per cent year on year to Rs 2,396 crore, mainly due to lower sales volumes, in the copper segment, copper cathode production decreased by 10.9 per cent year on year, to 84.6 kilo-tonnes, while copper net sales dipped by 10.6 per cent year on year to Rs 4,607 crore.

Related Topics