NALCO's Q1 net profit stands at Rs 160 crore. Why is the decline in profit?

CMD Ansuman Das

NATIONAL Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Navratna PSU under the administrative control of the ministry of mines, has registered a net profit of Rs 160 crore for the quarter ended June 2013. “There has been some decline in profit as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal due to…
lower international price,” according to a statement issued by the ministry of mines. The company has however claimed that the results were in line with the target set for the quarter.
For several months, this Bhubaneswar-based company did not have a full-time chairman and managing director. Only last month, the government (order dated July 19, 2013) appointed Ansuman Das as its full-time CMD. Until then, Das was holding additional charge of NALCO CMD’s post.
A mechanical engineering from REC, Rourkela (now National Institute of Technology) and MBA from UK's University of Hull, Das began his career with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and joined NALCO in 1982.
Known to be a marketing strategist, Das was GM (Marketing) and then in 2009, rose to the level of Director (Commercial) of NALCO. Das was also holding the additional charge of Director (human resources) for a brief period in 2012, and now holds the additional charge of Director (Finance).
“With his taking over as the full-time CMD, NALCO’s various expansion programmes and ongoing projects are slated to get further boost”, the company said in a statement last month when Das was named its full-time CMD.