Novelis Reports First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2014 Results

ATLANTA, Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today reported net income attributable to its common shareholder of $14 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Excluding certain tax-effected items, net income for first quarter of fiscal 2014 was $21 million.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 was $204 million, compared to $259 million reported for the same period a year ago. This quarter's results included a non-recurring $14 million amendment to the Company's employee Long-Term Incentive Plan. In addition, Novelis faced continued pricing headwinds and softer than expected demand for beverage can sheet partially driven by unfavorable weather conditions.

"Despite the challenges we faced in the first quarter, we maintained financial discipline through good cost control and will continue this focus on cost containment going forward," commented Phil Martens, President and Chief Executive Officer for Novelis. "In addition, our global strategic expansions and favorable demand trends supported by the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and automotive material substitution towards aluminum sheet will also help drive our business forward in the second half of this fiscal year."

Shipments of aluminum rolled products totaled 708 kilotonnes for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, down two percent compared to shipments of 722 kilotonnes for the same period last year.

Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 were $2.4 billion compared to $2.6 billion reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. This decrease was primarily due to a seven percent decline in average aluminum prices, lower shipments, and lower conversion premiums.

Fiscal 2014 is a transitional year for Novelis as it begins the commissioning process of several strategic global expansions to support future demand for premium products in can, automotive and specialty markets.

• In July, the Company began the commissioning process at both its new hot and cold mills in Korea. This largely completes the $400 million investment in Korea to add approximately 350 kilotonnes of incremental rolling capacity, and 265 kilotonnes of recycling capacity that came online late last year.
• Novelis also began the commissioning process at its two new automotive finishing lines in North America last month. The commissioning process for this approximately 240 kilotonne expansion will ramp up through the remainder of this fiscal year.
• In addition, the Company's rolling expansion in Brazil continues to successfully accelerate production as expected with customer qualification largely complete.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2014, Novelis reported solid liquidity of $730 million. Free cash flow was a negative $289 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 and capital expenditures totaled $181 million. "As expected, we had negative cash flow in our first quarter primarily as a result of continued investment in our strategic expansions and $107 million in semi-annual bond interest payments," said Steve Fisher, Chief Financial Officer for Novelis. "We've made good progress reducing inventory levels at the end of the first quarter and are continuing to drive working capital efficiencies and take other actions to improve free cash flow going forward."

First Quarter of Fiscal 2014 Earnings Conference Call

Novelis will discuss its first quarter of fiscal 2014 results via a live webcast and conference call for investors at 9:00 a.m. ET on Monday, August 12, 2013. Participants may access the webcast at https://cc.callinfo.com/r/1jxqqr14iriat&eom. To join by telephone, dial toll-free in North America at 800 771 6871, India toll-free at 0008001007108 or the international toll line at +1 212 231 2933. Access information may also be found at www.novelis.com/investors.

About Novelis

Novelis Inc. is the global leader in aluminum rolled products and the world's largest recycler of aluminum. The company operates in 9 countries, had approximately 11,000 employees and reported revenue of $9.8 billion for its 2013 fiscal year. Novelis supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer electronics markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Novelis is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited (BSE: HINDALCO), one of Asia's largest integrated producers of aluminum and a leading copper producer. Hindalco is a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. For more information, visit www.novelis.com and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Novelis.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release and the presentation slides for the earnings call contain non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC rules. We think that these measures are helpful to investors in measuring our financial performance and liquidity and comparing our performance to our peers. However, our non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial measures. To the extent we discuss any non-GAAP financial measures on the earnings call, a reconciliation of each measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure will be available in the presentation slides filed as Exhibit 99.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K furnished to the SEC concurrent with the issuance of this press release. In addition, the Form 8-K includes a more detailed description of each of these non-GAAP financial measures, together with a discussion of the usefulness and purpose of such measures.

Attached to this news release are tables showing the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, Reconciliation to Net Income excluding Certain Items, Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release which describe Novelis' intentions, expectations, beliefs or predictions may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements preceded by, followed by, or including the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," or similar expressions. An example of forward looking statements in this new release is our expectation for favorable demand trends to help drive the business. Novelis cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty and that Novelis' actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. We do not intend, and we disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include, among other things: changes in the prices and availability of aluminum (or premiums associated with such prices) or other materials and raw materials we use; the capacity and effectiveness of our metal hedging activities, including our internal used beverage cans (UBCs) and smelter hedges; relationships with, and financial and operating conditions of, our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders; fluctuations in the supply of, and prices for, energy in the areas in which we maintain production facilities; our ability to access financing for future capital requirements; changes in the relative values of various currencies and the effectiveness of our currency hedging activities; factors affecting our operations, such as litigation, environmental remediation and clean-up costs, labor relations and negotiations, breakdown of equipment and other events; the impact of restructuring efforts in the future; economic, regulatory and political factors within the countries in which we operate or sell our products, including changes in duties or tariffs; competition from other aluminum rolled products producers as well as from substitute materials such as steel, glass, plastic and composite materials; changes in general economic conditions including deterioration in the global economy, particularly sectors in which our customers operate; changes in the fair value of derivative instruments; cyclical demand and pricing within the principal markets for our products as well as seasonality in certain of our customers' industries; changes in government regulations, particularly those affecting taxes, derivative instruments, environmental, health or safety compliance; changes in interest rates that have the effect of increasing the amounts we pay under our principal credit agreement and other financing agreements; the effect of taxes and changes in tax rates; our indebtedness and our ability to generate cash. The above list of factors is not exhaustive. Other important risk factors included under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 are specifically incorporated by reference into this news release.

 

 

 

 

 

The following table shows the "Free cash flow" for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 and the ending balances of cash and cash equivalents (in millions).

 

The following table shows Net Income attributable to our common shareholder excluding Certain Items for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 (in millions). We adjust for items which may recur in varying magnitude which affect the comparability of the operational results of our underlying business.

 

SOURCE Novelis