Norsk Hydro: quarterly profit down on raw material costs
(CercleFinance.com) - Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro posted a fall in second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, due to production curtailment at its Alunorte plant in Brazil and higher raw material costs.
Hydro's underlying profit before financial items and tax decreased to 2.71 billion Norwegian kroner in the second quarter, down from 2.93 billion kroner for the same quarter last year.
Hydro also reported underlying April-June earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 2.99 billion Norwegian kroner, slightly up on the 2.95 billion Norwegian kroner made in the same period last year.
Due to the situation in Brazil - where the group had to cut production due to legal issues - Hydro's "Better" improvement program is not expected to reach the target of 500 million Norwegian kroner this year, it said.
Even so, the group maintained its view of a global primary aluminium demand growth of 4-5 per cent in 2018.
Shares in Norsk Hydro rose 2.5 per cent to 46.9 Norwegian kroner, outperforming a 0.2 per cent rise in the Oslo Stock Exchange benchmark index.
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