By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 11, 2017: National Aluminium Company’s (Nalco) net profit for the July-September quarter surged 94 per cent to Rs 235 crore compared with Rs 121 crore pegged in the same period of 2016-17. The net profit rose 82 per cent compared with Rs 129 crore achieved in April-June quarter of this fiscal compared to the corresponding period.

The company attributed its strong performance after the rollout of Goods & Services Tax (GST) to its strategy to ramp up production during a downturn, focus on cost reduction and buoyant market conditions led by favourable alumina prices.

“The market harvesting in alumina segment and focus on cost reduction have helped us improve our profitability. When the global metal market was in the slump cycle, Nalco maintained its resilience and faced the international downturn with courage by ramping up production. And now, with the shift of the market towards the upbeat cycle, the decision to remain brave and continue the operations with high productivity and investments has paid off well for the company. The recent financial performance of the Navratna PSU is a testimony to this”, said Tapan K Chand, chairman and managing director of Nalco.

Nalco’s net sales during July-September was up 42 per cent as it rose from Rs 1695 crore to Rs 2,420 crore.

For April-September period, Nalco’s net profit was higher by 42 per cent at Rs 364 crore. Gross sales in the period rose 29.6 per cent to Rs 4179 crore. In this period, Nalco mined 3.7 million tonnes of bauxite while its alumina hydrate production stood at 1.03 million tonnes. The Navratna Company produced 2.06 lakh tonnes of aluminium, marking a growth of 10.25 per cent. Its total aluminium sales at 2.02 lakh tonnes were higher by 14.19 per cent.