BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s National Aluminium Co (Nalco) reported a more than 40% fall in quarterly profit on Friday, dragged down by weak prices and demand.
The state-run aluminium producer’s consolidated profit fell to 3.34 billion rupees ($40.34 million) in the first quarter ended June 30, from 5.58 billion rupees a year earlier.
The company, whose revenue dropped 16%, said revenue from the aluminium segment tumbled over 18%, while its chemicals division saw a fall of 2.7%.
An easing supply chain and the persistent disparity between China and India in prices of HRC-grade aluminium have resulted in depressed prices, analysts said.
LME aluminium prices fell nearly 40% in the June quarter from a year ago.
The company’s total expenses fell by 10% year-on-year, helped by a curb in cost of power and fuel.
Nalco’s revenue from operations came in at 31.78 billion rupees, down from 37.95 billion rupees a year earlier.
Earlier this week, bigger rival Hindalco Industries reported a slump in first-quarter profit.
Shares of Nalco ended 0.7% lower on Friday ahead of the company’s results. The stock had gained 4.7% in the April-June quarter, underperforming the Nifty metal index, which rose nearly 13%.
($1 = 82.7870 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)