New Delhi: Aditya Birla Group company Hindalco Industries Friday posted 21.4 per cent decline in standalone profit to Rs 308.6 crore for the quarter ended September 2018. The company had posted a profit of Rs 392.8 crore in the year-ago period, Hindalco Industries said in a filing to the BSE. However, total income during the quarter increased to Rs 11,034.3 crore, over Rs 10,500.6 crore in the year-ago period, it said. "The company delivered yet another strong quarterly results, despite the challenging business environment, rising input costs and surge in imports," Hindalco said in a statement. "The company continues its focus on strengthening its balance sheet, resource securitisation and its strategy to grow in the downstream businesses to deliver long-term shareholder value," the company added. Novelis, it said, will continue to play a crucial role in supporting the next generation of automotive innovation and design, as the market demand for lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles grows. The applications for acquisition of the US-based aluminium producer Aleris filed with the concerned authorities were at various stages of approval, it added. "We expect the transaction to close in about 9-15 months from the date of the announcement of the transaction.

Novelis has secured firm commitments from banks for financing the Aleris acquisition," it said. Hindalco had earlier said it will acquire Aleris Corporation for USD 2.58 billion through its wholly-owned subsidiary Novelis. Utkal Alumina's brownfield capacity expansion was on schedule and was expected to be operational by 2020-21, it said.