Indian businessman Birla’s Hindalco sees profit drop

Bloomberg

Hindalco Industries Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, reported a drop in second-quarter profit, missing analysts’ estimates, after
a one-time loss partly eroded
the benefits of a surge in global metals prices.
Net income was 3.93 billion rupees ($60 million) in the three months to September 30, from 4.4 billion rupees a year earlier, India’s biggest aluminum producer said. That missed a 4.95 billion-rupee average of 14 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The company took an exceptional charge of 1.06 billion rupees on legal cases relating to mining and transport taxes.
Aluminum has been the best performer this year in a broad advance that’s lifted metal prices about a quarter, giving a boost to the earnings of producers. Rival Vedanta Ltd. reported a quarterly profit jump of 47 percent and flagged a more robust second half.
The Mumbai-based company, which earns 50 percent of its revenue from aluminum and the rest from copper, saw its second-quarter sales rise almost 8 percent from a year earlier to 103.1 billion rupees, while costs increased 4.6 percent to 97.8 billion rupees, it said.
Hindalco expects government reforms to facilitate domestic investment and growth in the coming years, it said.
The company will continue to focus on accelerated develeraging and it prepaid about 79.7 billion rupees of project debts so far in
the current fiscal year, according to the statement.