Adds details, quote in pargraph 9-13, shares in paragraph
By Manvi Pant and Neha Arora
BENGALURU, Aug 13 (Reuters) - India's Hindalco HALC.NS on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit below estimates, hurt by a jump in expenses tied to disruptions at its Novelis unit's Switzerland plant.
Consolidated profit for the Aditya Birla Group-owned company surged 25% to 30.74 billion rupees (about $366 million). Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 36.71 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.
IPO-bound Novelis NVL.N, which accounts for more than 60% of the firm's overall revenue, incurred a cash impact of $80 million from the shutdown of its Switzerland-based plant.
Hindalco's total expenses grew over 4% to 522.61 billion rupees.
However, its bottom line still got a boost from strong sales and higher product prices at Novelis and its second-biggest business, copper.
During the quarter, global prices of base metals including aluminium and copper saw a sharp uptick amid supply shortages and rising demand, analysts said.
For the quarter, benchmark aluminium CMAL3 and copper CMCU3 prices on the London Metal Exchange rose 8% and 8.3%, respectively. MET/L
Peers Vedanta VDAN.NS and NALCO NALU.NS also reported higher profit, benefiting from a rise in prices.
Hindalco expects strong demand for copper and aluminium in India, its managing director Satish Pai said in a post-earnings call.
Pre-tax profit at Novelis jumped 21% to 41.7 billion rupees, while overall revenue from operations grew 8% to 570.13 billion rupees. Revenue from its copper business jumped 16%.
"Next quarter, I don't see much issues. The aluminium prices are running a little bit lower due to geopolitical concerns so really that's the only I see. The demand seems to be strong, copper should have another good quarter," Pai said.
The company was trying to find sources for copper concentrate, but Pai said it would take two years before the supply-demand situation eases.
Pai did give any specific timeline for Novelis' IPO.
Its shares settled 1.3% lower at 621.4 rupees. The stock has crucial support around the 590-600 levels, said Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president of research at Angel One.
($1 = 83.9370 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru and Neha Arora in New Delhi; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Devika Syamnath)
((Manvi.Pant@thomsonreuters.com; +918447554364;))