India’s state-owned National Aluminium Company (Nalco) released results for the third quarter of the current fiscal year last week. The country’s top manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium turned in positive results in the face of a still-struggling global commodities market.
Nalco’s net profit for the quarter ending in December was INR144 crore, better quarter-on-quarter from last quarter’s total of INR121 crore, and slightly down year-on-year from the previous year’s third quarter result of INR148 crore. Net sales turnover in the quarter totaled INR1,848 crore, while EBITDA in the quarter came in at INR361 crore, better year-on-year than last year’s third quarter, when it totaled INR282 crore.
Net profit for the first nine months of the present fiscal year totaled INR400 crore, down year-on-year from last year’s first nine month total of INR573 crore. Net sales for the period rose to INR5,071 crore, better year-on-year than last year’s nine-month total of INR4,866 crore.
Nalco indicates that production growth rose across the board in the quarter. Production over the course of the first nine months totaled 5.3 million metric tons of bauxite ore, a 16% increase year-on-year from last year’s nine-month total of 4.6 million metric tons. Alumina in the period totaled 1.5 million metric tons, up from last year’s total of 1.4 million metric tons. Primary aluminium production over the first nine months totaled 286 thousand metric tons, an increase year-on-year over last year’s nine-month total of 276 thousand metric tons.
Nalco’s power generation was up over the first nine months of the current fiscal year as well, totaling 4.5 billion units, an increase over last year’s nine-month total of 4.4 billion units. The firm touts its sustainably-sourced power production in the nine-month period as well – of the 4.5 billion units produced, 164 million units were produced utilizing wind power.