Alro registered a record preliminary net profit of RON 318 million in 2017

Mon, 02/12/2018 - 09:54

Financial and operational highlights

  • Turnover of RON 2.47 billion, compared to RON 2.13 billion, in 2016
  • Operating profit of RON 397 million, compared to RON 170 million, in 2016
  • Preliminary net profit of RON 318 million, compared to RON 67 million, in 2016
  • Adjusted net profit* of RON 355 million, compared to an adjusted net profit* of RON 101 million in 2016
  • Primary aluminium sales of 151,000 tonnes compared to 154,000 tonnes in 2016
  • Processed aluminium sales of 82,000 tonnes, up from 2016 when they stood at 77,000 tonnes

Slatina, February 12, 2018 - Alro S.A. (BSE: ALR, "the Company" or "Alro"), the largest aluminium producer in Continental Europe (excluding Russia and Scandinavia), announces today its preliminary financial results for the year ended 31 December 2017. The Company registered a preliminary net profit of RON 318 million in 2017, higher compared to 2016 when it was of RON 67 million. The Company's turnover amounted to RON 2.47 billion, higher compared to RON 2.13 billion in 2016.

"In 2017, Alro achieved its best financial results from the last ten years, when, in 2008 the first signs that predicted the beginning of the crisis in the aluminiumindustry started to be visible. The past years were challenging at all levels, but with a lot of work and a well-defined strategy closely monitored, we managed to embed in these results the efforts made taking advantage of the favorable context for our industry at international level, as well. Thanks to our long-term vertical integration strategy, we have succeeded to monitor and reduce the impact of production costs in the net result, while expanding our customer portfolio and penetrating sophisticated markets such as aerospace and automotive industries", added Marian Nastase.

"With more and more companies in the aluminium industry focusing on the high value-added products segment, we want to capitalize as much as possible the advantage of having an advance in this direction that we started in 2006 and supported even in times of crisis with sophisticated investments", added Marian Năstase.

In 2017, Alro benefited from a favorable international environment as the aluminium quotation at the London Metal Exchange (LME) has significantly increased. Thus, the average LME in 2017 was 1,969 USD/ tonne, compared to 1,605 USD / tonne in 2016. In the last quarter of 2017, the average price rose to 2,102 USD/ tonne, by 392 USD/ tonne more than the average level recorded in Q4 2016, of 1,710 USD/ tonne.

In addition, Alro continued to focus on high and very high value added aluminium sales with higher premiums, which has led both to higher quantitative volume and value sales of processed products, which is in line with the Company's strategy in recent years. Therefore, the total primary aluminium production was 282,000 tonnes in 2017 compared to 273,000 tonnes in 2016, while the processed aluminium production was in 2017 of 84,000 tonnes, by 5,000 tonnes more than in 2016, when it reached 79,000 tonnes.

Alro has also achieved a significant improvement in its operating results with an operating profit of RON 397 million in 2017 compared to RON 170 million in 2016 and a net profit of RON 318 million, compared to RON 67 million, in 2016.

During 2017, Alro invested RON 142 million for technological upgrading, operational efficiency and customer portfolio expansion and product range diversification, compared to RON 81 million in the similar period of 2016. The Company focused on the one hand, on the continuous reduction of energy consumption rates, and on the other hand, on the increase of the quality of its products.

Last year, Alro completed the upgrading of the casting plant in the primary aluminium sector, and in the processed aluminium sector, the Company has upgraded the processing lines, introduced new high energy efficiency technologies and equipment with high energy efficiency, and implemented the predictive maintenance concept and digitalization. The business plan for the period 2017-2021 estimates total investments of over USD 190 million, out of which over USD 100 million for energy efficiency projects.

In November 2017, the Company completed negotiations for a credit facility of USD 167 million credit facility that extends the three-year USD 137 million revolving credit facility signed in December 2015 for a period of two years with an additional non-cash facility of USD 30 million.

The main purpose of this revolving facility is to finance the working capital needs of the Company, while the additional non-cash facility is intended to be used for issuing LCs and LGs to support both the operating and investing activities. The transaction involved a syndicate of eight banks (OTP Bank Romania, Unicredit Bank, Banca Comerciala Intesa Sanpaolo Romania, Banca Transilvania, Banca de Export-Import a Romaniei (Eximbank) and Garanti Bank) and was managed by RBI Group (Raiffeisen Bank International and Raiffeisen Bank Romania acting jointly) as the sole Coordinator.

Moreover, in 2017, the Company continued to invest in the training of its actual and potential future employees. Thus, in addition to the training programs organized for its own employees, Alro, in a partnership with the Slatina Metallurgical Technical College and with the support of the City Hall in Slatina, established the first dual education class in the Olt County. Alro has ongoing partnerships with high schools, post-secondary and university schools (such as Slatina Metallurgical Technical College, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Transilvania University of Brasov, University of Craiova, etc.) to facilitate the practical training of the students, conducting year-end, bachelor, PhD or various research projects, or organizing classes through the vocational school.

The preliminary financial results are not audited. Therefore, the final audited statements for 2017 might be different from those included in this press release.

Preliminary financial results are available in a separate document on the Company's website, Investor Relations category, Financial Reports section: http://www.alro.ro/en/reports

 

* Net adjusted result is net result plus / (minus) expense / (income) with / from impairment of assets, plus / (minus) loss / (gain) on derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting plus / (minus) expense / (income) with / deferred tax.

Figures for Alro S.A. included in this press release are reported in accordance with the Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 2844/2016, which is in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopted by the European Union, with the exception of IAS 21 "The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates” on the Functional Currency.

 

For further information, please contact:

www.alro.ro

Florența Ghiță

Bucharest

Phone: +40 744 644 004

Email: investor.relations@alro.ro

 

Notes to the Editors:

Alro

Alro is subsidiary of Vimetco N.V., a global, vertically-integrated primary and processed aluminium producer. Alro is the largest aluminium producer in Continental Europe (excluding Russia and Scandinavia), having an installed production capacity of 265,000 tonnes per year.

The main markets for Alro products is represented by the European Union; the Company exports its products to the USA and Asia, as well. Alro is ISO 9001 certified for quality management and has NADCAP and EN 9100 certificates for aerospace production organizations, Alro’s products adhere to the quality standards for primary aluminium on the LME, as well as international standards for flat rolled products.