By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 12, 2018: Aluminium maker Nalco on Wednesday said its net profit recorded a two-fold jump to Rs 510 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2018. The state-run firm had clocked a net profit of Rs 235 crore in the year-ago period.

“NALCO has achieved a net profit of Rs.510 crore, as against Rs 235 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal, registering around two-fold growth. The operating profit of 2nd quarter of FY18-19 has increased by 229% at Rs735 crore, as against Rs.223 crore in the 2nd quarter of FY17-18,” Nalco said in a statement.

The reviewed financial results for the 2nd quarter and first half of the financial year 2018-19 was taken on record by the company’s Board of Directors in the meeting held here on Monday.

The Aluminium Major repeated its strong performance by posting a turnover of Rs.5952 crore in the first half of FY 2018-19, i.e. 42% growth over H1 of FY 2017-18, the statement added.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of the company during the period has doubled from 17 percent to 34 percent, despite high volatility in alumina and aluminium markets due to US Trade Sanctions etc, it added.

The statement” attributed the success to dedicated and determined team work, strong cost focus and strategic planning. NALCO, under the leadership of Dr. T.K. Chand, CMD, is confident to post a record turnover and profit in FY 2018-19”, it said.

“NALCO has been able to significantly improve its performance due to the New Business Model introduced by the company one and a half year back, which has helped in doubling its net profit during the last financial year 2017-18 and significant improvement further in Q1 of 2018-19, wherein NALCO registered a net profit of Rs.687 crore over Rs. 129 crore in Q1 2017-18. The performance of NALCO continued to be upbeat in Q2 of this fiscal. Under the New Business Model, the focus has been on reducing the specific consumption, cost reduction, production augmentation, strategic marketing in spot market etc.” the statement claimed.