National Aluminium Company (Nalco) reported 117-per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 5.1 billion for the quarter-ended September 30, up from Rs 2.35 billion in the same period of last fiscal.

The company's operating profit also zoomed 229 per cent to Rs 7.35 billion as against Rs 2.23 billion achieved in the comparable period of FY18.

The state-owned company attributed the growth to its new business model, which was introduced 18 months ago and helped helped it overcome volatility in alumina and aluminium markets due to US sanctions. The revamped business model aided in doubling Nalco's net profit to Rs 13.2 billion in 2017-18. The performance of Nalco continued to be upbeat in Q2 of this fiscal. Under the new business model, the focus has been on reducing the specific consumption, cost reduction, production augmentation and strategic marketing in spot market.

During April-September period, Nalco's net profit rose 229 per cent to Rs 11.97 billion as against Rs 3.64 billion in the year-ago period. During this period, Nalco posted strong topline growth of 42 per cent at Rs 59.52 billion.

While the net profit of Nalco in April-September of current fiscal has increased around three-fold, operating profit of the company has increased more than four-fold, registering Rs 16.24 billion in 2018-19 compared to Rs 3.34 billion in the period under review. The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margin of the company during the period has doubled from 17 per cent to 34 per cent.