NALCO declares record 115% dividend of Rs 1072.73 crore for

Aluminium major NALCO on Wednesday announced a record 115 per cent dividend payout amounting to Rs 1072.73 crore for 2018-19.

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO0 declared its highest ever dividend on the occasion of the 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Navaratna PSU and said it has reflected continuation of its bull run.

This is the highest dividend payout since the inception of the Company in 1981 which works out to Rs 5.75 per equity share of Rs 5 each, the company said in a statement here.

Dividend including the applicable dividend distribution tax works out to a payout of 74.65 per cent of the PAT against 98.81 per cent of previous financial year.

Till 2018-19 fiscal, Rs 32,886 crore was paid towards taxes, duties, royalties and dividend. Out of this, Rs 25,917 crore was paid to the Central Government and Rs 6,969 crore to the state government, it said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the AGM, CMD of NALCO Tapan Kumar Chand attributed the success to teamwork, strong cost focus and strategic planning.

"Year 2018-19 has been an extremely rewarding year for NALCO on all fronts. We have not only excelled in making production, profit, productivity and people engagement, we have also made exemplary contribution in promoting and putting focus on nature, nurture and future," he said.

Stating that sustainability has now become a part of NALCO's key business processes, Chand said the company was the lowest cost producer of alumina in the world consecutively for the last 4 years and lowest cost producer of Bauxite in the world in 2018.

Describing NALCO as one of the top three CPSEs with highest net foreign exchange earnings, the CMD said domestic market share in aluminium has increased to 24.3 per cent in FY 2018-19 against 21.1 per cent in previous year.

The aluminium giant posted highest-ever sales turnover and export earnings in 2018-19, while it earned highest ever PAT in last 10 years, he said adding the company achieved the best performance in a decade with Rs 1,732 crore net profit, a growth of 29 per cent over the previous year.

Metal production at 4.40 lakh tonne was highest since last 8 years, while production of value-added products of 1.52 lakh MT was highest ever since inception, Chand said.

While Five Star Rating was accorded to Nalco's Panchpatmali bauxite mines in Koraput district by Ministry of Mines, CAPEX of Rs 919 crore was achieved and production growth was recorded in all segments, he said.