Alba reports a 16% revenue growth to BD1,840.9 million in 2022 but a 7% decline in profit due to higher production costs

On Thursday, February 2, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 financial results, announcing a sharp downfall of Q4 profit by 78 per cent year-on-year from BD181.2 million (US$481.8 million) to BD39.4 million (US$104.9 million). For the full year, Alba posted an 8 per cent fall in profit from BD451.9 million (US$1,201.8 million) to BD416.2 million (US$1,106.8 million).

The company’s profit experienced a slowdown due to surging production costs caused by energy price rise and higher interest rates.

The company also reported a drop in its Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share to Fils 28 for Q4 2022 from Fils 28 for the same period in 2021. Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share during 2022 stood at fils 294 versus fils 319 in 2021.

Alba’s comprehensive income for the fourth quarter also plummeted by 80 per cent to stand at BD183 million (US$486.8 million), but that in the entire year dipped by only 1 per cent from BD458.5 million (US$1,219.5 million) to BD452.7 million (US$1,204 million).

Gross profit for the fourth quarter slumped by 63 per cent year-on-year to BD80.6 million (US$214.3 million), and that in the entire year dropped by 5 per cent to BD545.6 million (US$1,451.1 million). However, Alba’s revenue in 2022 stood 16 per cent higher at BD1,840.9 million (US$4,896.1 million), compared to BD1,584.8 million (US$4,215 million) in 2021.

Revenue growth was buoyed by increased sales volume to 1,568,134 tonnes despite market challenges like transportation disruptions due to the lengthy Ukraine-Russia geo-political conflict. The sales volume of value-added products exceeded 1,042,000 tonnes, up 7 per cent year-on-year. Primary aluminium production broke the former year’s record and stood at 1,600,111 tonnes in 2022, surpassing 1,561,222 tonnes of output in 2021, a total improvement of 2.5 per cent on the year.

The revenue growth was also supported by a 9 per cent higher average LME-cash price of US$2,707/t in 2022.

Demand in the Middle East grew 4 per cent fuelled by 7 per cent Y-o-Y higher consumption in the UAE and 1 per cent in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (each).

In regards to the company’s performance in 2022, the Chairman of Alba’s Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, stated: “We, in Alba, are pleased to report another year of strong operational growth and record financial performance despite market challenges.”

For the second year in a row, EBITDA was recorded at record levels of US$1.502 billion.