Alba reports Q4 results

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) yesterday announced financial results for its fourth quarter saying that its top-line and bottom-line for 2018 quarter were impacted primarily by lower sales’ revenue and higher Alumina prices. The company reported a net loss of BD 17.5 million (US$ 47m) in the fourth quarter of 2018 versus a net income of BD 23.4m (US$ 62.4m) for the same period in 2017, down by 175pc YoY. Gross Loss for the quarter was BD 7.4m (US$ 20m) versus a Gross Profit of BD 37.3m (US$ 99.2m) in the same quarter of 2017, down by 120pc YoY. With regards to Q4 total sales/revenues, Alba reported BD 211.5m (US$ 562.6m) in 2018, versus BD252.7m (US$ 672.2m) in Q4 2017, a drop of 16pc YoY.

Loss per Share in the fourth quarter was fils 13 versus earning per share fils 16 in Q4 2017. For the full year of 2018, Alba’s net income stood at BD 59.8m (US$ 158.9m), down by 35pc YoY, compared to BD 92.5m (US$ 245.9m) in 2017. Earnings per share were fils 42 versus fils 65 for 2017. Alba’s top-line and bottom-line performances were attributed to higher sales volume, higher LME price (+7pc Year-over-Year (YoY)) and partially offset by higher Alumina Prices (+34pc YoY). Gross Profit was BD 85.9m (US$ 228.6m) versus BD 134.6m (US$ 358.1m) a decrease of 36pc YoY.

Total sales/revenues reached BD 911.3m (US$ 2.4 billion), up by 6pc YoY, compared to BD 857.8m (US$ 2.3bn) in 2017. Commenting on the results, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, Chairman of Alba’s Board of Directors, said “Despite the significant volatility in the financial markets, Alba had a strong finish in both Safety and Production where Alba exceeded the 1-million metric tonnes production mark for the 1st time in its history. In addition, our flagship Line 6 project was commissioned ahead of schedule on 13 December 2018”.

“2018 was a challenging year with the unprecedented spike in Alumina prices which significantly impacted our bottom-line. Despite the impact of higher Alumina prices, Alba was able to deliver solid results on the back of our Project Titan Cost Improvement Programme,” he added. Looking ahead, Shaikh Daij said that the company will continue to focus to improve safety, Production and Cost along with commitment to the Safe start-up of Line 6. Alba Management will be holding a conference call on Monday 11 February 2019 to discuss Alba’s performance for the 2018 Full-Year Results.