Hindalco declined marginally on Friday despite posting Q3 results that were below analysts' expectations.

The stock of the aluminium major was down by 0.79% to Rs 610.70 on the BSE, off its intra-day high of Rs 612.25 but recovering from its intra-day low of Rs 605. A volume of 23,500 shares was recorded on the counter till 14:43 IST.

In the afternoon, Hindalco announ ced its third quarter (ended 31 December 2002) results. It registered a 39% fall in its net profit to Rs 101.1 crore (Rs 1.01 billion), compared to Rs 165.5 crore (Rs 1.65 billion) in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales also declined by 9.68% to Rs 521.5 crore (Rs 5.21 billion) from Rs 577.4 crore (Rs 5.77 billion) in DQ 2001.

The 39% fall in net profit fell below the capitalmarket.com poll of five analysts, which had estimated the company's net profit to fall somewhere between Rs 110 crore (Rs 1.1 billion) to Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.4 billion), a decline of 15.5% to 33.3%.

Meanwhile, DQ 2002 sales fell on the lower side of analysts' expectations, who had projected sales between Rs 521 crore (Rs 5.21 billion) and Rs 615 crore (Rs 6.15 billion). The company registered sales of Rs 521.5 crore (Rs 5.21 billion), a fall of 9.68%.

Dealer said that players expected the company to post DQ 2002 results. This was the reason for the stock recording only a small loss after the results were out.

Meanwhile, Hindalco has issued an outlook stating that even as its long-term fundamentals remain excellent, it continues to be cautiously optimistic in the near-term. The medium-and - long-term outlook remains extremely encouraging, even in the face of a temporary setback in the company's operations on account of disruption of its activities in September 2002. Hindalco expects its branding of foil products to progressively yield results by way of higher sales in the packaging sector. In addition, Hindalco will also gain from a substantial increase in volumes of aluminium alloy wheels. The company said that the completion of the ongoing brown-field expansion projects and cost reduction measures as well as other initiatives, will enable it to make a strong comeback.

The promoters hold 23% stake in Hindalco, while that of the public and institutions were at 13% and 40.5% respectively.

BSE Code: 500440