Alba’s gross profit excels by 121% in 1Q 2022 due to higher LME prices

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced its financial results for the first quarter (Q1) 2022. As per the results, Alba, the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter outside of China, earned a profit of BD146.8 million (US$390.4 million) in Q1’22, which on a Y-o-Y value went up by 181% from BD52.2 million (US$138.8 million) in the same period of 2021. Based on the same period in 2021, the company reported basic and diluted earnings per share of fils 104 versus fils 37.

For Q1'22 the total comprehensive income settled at BD156 million (US$415 million), up 167% from BD58.4 million (US$155.4 million) in the same quarter of 2021. Gross profit in 2022 surged by 121% from BD80.5 million (US$214.1 million) in the same quarter of 2021. The gross profit for 2022 closed at BD178 million (US$473.4 million).

“We are off to a strong start in 2022 as we delivered another quarter of great results with a Profit of more than US$390 million, exceeding our performance for the first half of 2021 (Profit for H1 2021: US$385 million), reflecting the underlying momentum in our business as we capitalise on strong LME prices,” said Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, Chairman of Alba's Board of Directors.

In revenue, Aluminium Bahrain produced BD455 million (US$1,210 million) in Q122, which on a Y-o-Y calculation ascended by 50 per cent from BD302.7 million (US$805.1 million) in Q1 2021. Total equity closed at BD1585.3 million (US$4,216.2 million) on March 31, 2022, up 5% from BD1503 million (US$3,997.4 million) on December 31, 2021. Total Assets were BD2690.5 million (US$7,155.6 million) as of 31 March 2022, up 3 per cent from BD2624.6 million (US$6,980.3 million) as of 31 December 2021.

Higher LME pricing (56 per cent YoY) were slightly offset by reduced sales volume (-0.3 per cent YoY), while the bottom line for Q1 2022 was driven by increased top-line and partially impacted by higher selling and distribution expenses.

“Thanks to our agile operations, we have been able to achieve for the first time ever in a quarter an excellent performance on many fronts amidst the logistics challenges. I also take the opportunity to thank our workforce for achieving for the first time ever in our history 25 million safe working hours without LTI,” added Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Ali Al Baqali.

Alba’s operational sales totalled 354,216 tonnes, down 0.3 per cent year over year, while production increased by 2.4 per cent to 391,050 tonnes. Value-added Sales (VAP) accounted for 65 per cent of overall exports in Q1 2021, up from 62 per cent in Q1 2020 [VAP: 230,467 MT, up 5.4 per cent Y-o-Y]. Al Hassalah saved US$89 million (including a one-time savings of US$10 million from working capital) or US$45 per tonnes. Natural gas will be priced at $4/MMBTU until March 31, 2023.

Apart from this, Alba also partnered with EtaPRO to increase the performance of its power plants using Digital Industry 4.0 and AI. It also signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Global Aluminium to look into the possibility of creeping line 6 production and perhaps deploying EGA's technological capabilities for a brownfield development of Potline 7. A memorandum of understanding was signed with Bahrain Polytechnic to expand higher education possibilities for Bahraini people, particularly in engineering areas.