Novelis Inc., a leading sustainable aluminum solutions provider and the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
"Strong shipments in both the fourth quarter and full fiscal year, led by robust demand for beverage packaging, continue to underpin the fundamental strength of our business," said Steve Fisher, president and CEO, Novelis Inc. "While Adjusted EBITDA was slightly down versus the prior year in both periods, I'm proud of our team's adaptability and resilience in navigating headwinds from elevated aluminum scrap prices. We are working on implementing actions and technologies to expand our scrap input types, which we believe can mitigate scrap cost challenges and allow us to continue to provide the high-recycled-content aluminum solutions customers prefer. To drive continuing margin improvements, we are highly focused on optimizing our cost structure and increasing operational efficiency through a number of actions that will streamline our business and ensure we maintain a strong return on invested capital."
Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Highlights
Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 increased 13 per cent versus the prior year period to $4.6 billion, mainly driven by higher average aluminum prices and a 1 per cent increase in total rolled product shipments compared to the prior year period to 957 kilotonnes. Higher demand for beverage packaging, aerospace and specialty products were partially offset by lower automotive shipments.
Net income attributable to our common shareholder increased 77 per cent versus the prior year to $294 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, primarily driven by favourable metal price lag, gains in unrealized derivatives, and a lower income tax provision. Net income attributable to our common shareholder, excluding special items, was up 46% year-over-year to $262 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 8% versus the prior year to $473 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, primarily driven by higher aluminum scrap prices and operating costs, partially offset by higher product pricing. Adjusted EBITDA per tonne was down 9 per cent year-over-year to $494.
Full Year Fiscal Year 2025 Results
Net sales increased 6 per cent versus the prior year to $17.1 billion in fiscal year 2025, primarily driven by higher average aluminum prices and a 2 per cent increase in total flat rolled product shipments to 3,757 kilotonnes. The increase in shipments is mainly due to record high beverage packaging shipments and higher shipments for aerospace products, partially offset by lower shipments of specialties and automotive products.
Fiscal 2025 net income attributable to our common shareholder increased 14 per cent versus the prior year to $683 million. The increase is mainly driven by a favourable change in metal price lag and unrealized gains on derivatives, as well as lower income tax provision, partially offset by impacts from the Sierre flooding and lower Adjusted EBITDA. Net income attributable to our common shareholder, excluding special items, was up 11% year-over-year to $764 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 4 per cent to $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2025, compared to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2024, driven mainly by higher aluminum scrap prices compared to the prior year, unfavorable product mix, and higher operating cost, partially offset by higher total shipments and higher product pricing.
Net cash flow provided by operating activities was $1.0 billion in fiscal year 2025 compared to $1.3 billion in the prior fiscal year, primarily due mainly to lower Adjusted EBITDA and higher metal costs partially offset by improvement in metal price lag. Adjusted Free Cash Flow was an outflow of $737 million in fiscal year 2025 compared to a prior year period outflow of $75 million, due primarily to a 24% year-over-year increase in capital expenditures and lower cash flow from operating activities. Fiscal year 2025 capital expenditures total $1.7 billion and reflect the planned increase in strategic, sustainability-focused, capital investment projects that support increased long-term customer demand.
"Our disciplined approach to cash management, including financing actions during the fourth quarter, enables us to continue to strategically invest for growth," said Dev Ahuja, executive vice president and CFO, Novelis Inc. "Our heightened focus on cost efficiency, while we also complete a number of investments to increase rolling and recycling capacity, ensures we are well-positioned to capitalise on long-term market trends while also maintaining a strong liquidity position. This balanced approach supports both our current operations amidst some macro-economic uncertainty and future growth initiatives."
In January 2025, Novelis issued $750 million in senior unsecured notes due January 2030, with the proceeds primarily used to repay outstanding borrowings under our ABL revolver. In March 2025, the company borrowed $1.25 billion of term loans that mature in March 2032, with the proceeds primarily used to repay previously issued term loans that were due in 2026 and 2028.
The company had a net leverage ratio (Adjusted Net Debt / trailing twelve months (TTM) Adjusted EBITDA) of 2.9x at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. Total liquidity stood at $2.8 billion as of March 31, 2025, consisting of $1.0 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $1.7 billion in availability under committed credit facilities.