Bahrain's Alba profit up 807%

PHOTO

MANAMA: Alba, the world’s largest aluminium smelter outside China, has reported a profit of BD52.2 million ($138.8m) for the first quarter of 2021, up by 807 per cent year-on-year (YoY), versus BD5.8m ($15.3m) for the same period in 2020.

The company reported basic and diluted earnings per share of 37 fils for Q1 2021 versus 4 fils for the same period in 2020.

Total comprehensive income for Q1-2021 stood at BD58.4m versus total comprehensive loss of BD1.6m for Q1-2020, up by 3,539pc YoY.

Gross profit for Q1 2021 was BD80.5m versus BD33.5m for the same period in 2020 – up by 140pc YoY.

With regards to the revenue in Q1 2021, Alba generated BD302.7m versus BD275.9m in Q1 2020 – up by 10pc YoY.

Total equity as of end-March 2021 stood at BD1,137.5m, up by 5pc from BD1,079.5m as of end-December 2020.

Total assets as of end-March 2021 were BD2,435.5m versus BD2,353.7m, as of end-December 2020 – up by 3pc.

Alba’s top-line were driven in the first quarter of 2021 by higher LME prices (+24pc YoY) and partially offset by lower sales’ volume (a drop of 6pc YoY) while the bottom-line was driven by higher top-line and partially impacted by higher depreciation as well as higher General and Selling Expenses.

Commenting on the financial performance, Alba chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa said: “The best way to foresee a sustainable future is to plan it. Alba is where it is today thanks to the guidance and wise directives of Bahrain’s leadership as well as their farsighted vision and support towards the Line 6 Expansion Project – which has become a reality – and for trusting us to achieve this landmark project.

“I also take the opportunity to thank HRH the Crown Prince Prime Minister for his thoughtful decision to freeze natural gas price at $3.75/MMBTU for a year. HRH’s directive reinforces his unlimited support to Alba’s growth and development which along with stronger metal demand, higher LME price and continuous improvements in production efficiencies will create greater value for Alba’s shareholders.

“In terms of business performance, we had a strong come-back and we delivered a solid quarter on many fronts: Alba operations continue to run at full run-rate. The higher productivity was made possible thanks to Line 6. Value-added products sales’ volume – highest on record in Alba’s history (218,767 metric tonnes). The company has reported a record-high EBITDA margin in 50-years of commercial operations – 29.8pc and the highest-ever recorded profit in a quarter of BD52.2m, up by 807pc YoY.”

Emphasising further, Alba chief executive Ali Al Baqali said: “If we do what we’ve always done, we will end-up with what we’ve always gotten.

We had to think differently, thanks to this pandemic, to advance our performance as a company on the operational and financial profitability fronts. It’s thanks to our agile workforce that we have been able to bounce-back and start 2021 strong. We also take pride in our Safety achievement as we topped collectively more than 10 million safe-working hours without LTI.

“I am optimistic about our business and confident that our performance will exceed our ambitious objectives – Safety Excellence, higher productivity, lean operations as we move forward in 2021.”

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.