Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba) presents its financial results as per the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting rules. All investors and reporters are asked to read Alba’s Full-Year 2017 Audited Financial Statements posted at www.albasmelter.com.
Alba’s Financial Results for Full-Year 2017 are summarised below:
- 2017: Achieved record production – 981,016 metric tonnes
- Dividend of US$ 97.9 million proposed by the Board
- Transformation of Alba with Line 6 Expansion Project
2017 Industry Highlights
- World consumption at 6 million metric tonnes (mt) and up by 6% Year-over-Year (YoY). Asian demand rose by 7% YoY led by consumption in China (+8% YoY). MENA demand remains strong (+4% YoY) driven by major infrastructure spending in Saudi Arabia (+12% YoY). Europe consumption up by 3% YoY driven by strong growth in transport (auto body sheet), building and construction sectors while demand in North America continues with the same momentum (+2% YoY) denominated by the automobile production.
- World production up by 8% YoY (63.5 million mt). Asia Production up by 12% YoY supported by Chinese output (+13% YoY) despite winter closures and partially offset by new smelters’ restarts. North America & Europe production down by 2% YoY and 1% YoY
- World market in deficit with China (-43 Kt) and in deficit w/o China (-1.9 million mt).
- LME inventories at 1 million mt in December (down by 50% YoY).
- Physical premiums prices almost flat ($/t).
2017 Alba Highlights
- Continuous improvement on Safety performance with the launch of ‘Safety in All Seasons’ Campaign.
- Sales volume up by 4% YoY to reach 978,195 mt while Production topped 981,016 mt (+1% YoY).
- 2017 Value-Added Sales averaged 57% versus 56% in 2016.
- Project Titan – Phase II: normalised savings of US$ 79/mt versus a target of US$ 100/mt with taking into account the benefits of insurance claim.
- Line 6 Expansion Project milestones:
- Line 6 Smelter [5 million-hours w/o LTIs; overall progress: 40%]
- Power Expansion [3 million-hours w/o LTIs; overall progress of Power Station 5 (PS 5) at 47% & PDS at 65%]
- Alba signs MoU with GE for 4th GT block in PS 5.
- Alba and Bechtel sign MoU to explore further opportunities.
Full-Year & Q4 2017 Results
Alba closed 2017 strong – the sound financial performance reflected the Company’s resilience in setting the benchmark on Line 5 recovery and was driven by favourable management performance.
The Company reported Total Sales of BD 857.8 million (US$ 2.3 billion) in 2017, up by 28% versus BD 669.8 million (US$ 1.8 billion) in 2016 while Q4 2017 Total Sales stood at BD 252.7 million (US$ 672.2 million), up by 39% versus BD 181.6 million (US$ 483.0 million) for the same period in 2016 – both driven by higher LME prices.
The Company generated a Net Income of BD 92.5 million (US$ 245.9 million) in 2017, up by 91% compared to BD 48.4 million (US$ 128.7 million). As for the fourth quarter of 2017, Alba posted a Net Income of BD 23.5 million (US$ 62.4 million), up by 72% versus BD 13.7 million (US$ 36.5 million) for the same period in 2016.
Alba’s Board of directors recommended a dividend distribution of BD 36.8 million (US$ 97.9 million) for the fiscal year 2017 which will be paid from March 21, 2018.
2018 Alba Priorities
- Continued focus on Safety with new “Safety Selfie” initiative
- Deliver on Project Titan – Phase III (2018: 1,000,000 mt & US$ 60/t)
- Leverage strong physical demand on Value-Added Sales
- Line 6 Expansion Project on schedule:
- Finalize ECA Financing – second tranche by Q1 2018
- Award the remaining packages
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) released its Full-Year and Fourth Quarter of 2017 Results during a meeting of the Company’s Board of Directors on Thursday February 08, 2018. The Board, also, approved the appointment of Dr. Abdulla Habib as the acting Chief Operations Officer (COO) with immediate effect.
Alba Management will be holding a conference call on Monday February 12, 2018 to discuss Alba’s performance for the 2017 Full-Year Results as well as outline the Company’s priorities for 2018.