Mumbai: Hindalco Industries Ltd has raised its spending target for this fiscal year to ₹6,000 crore. The company, part of the Aditya Birla Group, plans to invest in various projects, including alumina refinery, copper recycling plant, battery foil manufacturing unit, and development of Chakla coal mines.
“We plan to invest in growth projects this year,” said managing director Satish Pai during a media briefing after announcing quarterly earnings. He mentioned that the entire capital expenditure will be financed through internal funds.
Earlier, Hindalco had announced a capex of ₹5,000-5,500 crore for FY25. In the previous fiscal year, the company had spent around ₹4,200 crore.
Despite repaying debt of ₹5,195 crore last fiscal, there are no plans for debt repayment this year, according to Pai. This decision comes as Hindalco’s consolidated net debt reduced to ₹31,536 crore as of March-end from ₹33,959 crore a year earlier.
The reduced debt contributed to narrowing the net debt-to-Ebitda ratio to 1.21 times from 1.39 times last year. Hindalco’s strong performance in FY24 also played a role, with the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) increasing by 7% to ₹25,728 crore for the year.
In the March quarter, Hindalco’s consolidated operating profit surged by 24% compared to the previous year, reaching ₹7,201 crore, while revenue remained flat at ₹55,994 crore. Net profit saw a nearly one-third increase to ₹3,174 crore as all business segments witnessed improved profitability.
“Hindalco concluded the year with very strong results across all business segments. This was a clear testament to our strategic focus on value-added products and margin improvement,” Pai commented.
Cost of production decreased slightly in the March quarter compared to the previous quarter, and it is expected to decline further by 1-2% this quarter, Pai added.
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