Alba aims to boost growth with strategic capabilities

MANAMA: Alba, the world’s largest aluminium smelter outside China, has reported a loss of BD11.6 million ($31m) for the third quarter of 2020, up by 209pc year-on-year (YoY) versus a profit of BD10.7m ($28.4m) for the same period in 2019.

The company reported basic and diluted loss per share for the third quarter of 2020 of 8 fils versus basic and diluted earnings per share of 8 fils for the same period in 2019.

The total comprehensive loss for Q3-2020 stood at BD11.7m versus total comprehensive profit for the third quarter of 2019 of BD10.7m – up by 209pc YoY.

Gross Profit for the third quarter of 2020 was BD25.7m versus BD29.2m in Q3 2019 – down by 12pc YoY.

For the first nine months of 2020, Alba has reported a loss of BD22.3m, up by 164pc YoY, versus a loss of BD8.4m for the same period in 2019.

For the nine-months, basic and diluted loss per share was 16 fils versus basic and diluted loss per share of 6 fils for the same period in 2019.

Total comprehensive loss for the nine-months was BD31.5m, up by 273pc YoY, compared with total comprehensive loss of BD8.4m for the same period of 2019.

Gross profit for the nine month was BD80.9m versus BD45.4m in nine-months of 2019 – up by 78pc YoY.

Alba garnered BD262.7m in revenue from contracts with customers in the third quarter versus BD287.1m in Q3 2019 – down by 8.5pc YoY.

For the nine month period, total revenue from contracts with customers was BD782.6m, up by 6pc YoY, compared with BD735.7m for the same period in 2019.

Total equity as at 30 September 2020 stood at BD1,046.2m, down by 3pc, versus BD1,078.6m as at 31 December 2019.

Total assets as at 30 September 2020 stood at BD2,382.3m versus BD2,420.2m as at 31 December 2019 – down by 1.6pc.

Alba’s top-line was driven in the third quarter of 2020 by higher metal sales volume thanks to line 6 and partially offset by lower LME price, down by 3pc YoY – $1,706/t in Q3 2020 versus $1,761/t in Q3 2019 – while the bottom-line was impacted by higher depreciation, financial charges and foreign exchange losses.

Alba chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa said, “We are all in this together and Covid-19 showed us that nothing is more important than safety. At Alba, safety of our people and contractors’ employees, is and will remain our number one priority. Like all businesses, our performance has been relatively dampened due to Covid-19 impacts, despite our operational resilience.”

Alba chief executive Ali Al Baqali said, “We continue to navigate through these unprecedented times by focusing on what we control best: Safety of our people, efficient operations and lean cost structure. We also remain optimistic that with the agility of our people and strategic capabilities, we will get back on track stronger than before.”

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/885864/Alba-aims-to-boost-growth-with-strategic-capabilities