Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) reported results for the final quarter and full year of 2022 last week. Although financial metrics were down almost across the board, Alba praised its workforce for strong results despite the multiple challenges faced by the aluminium market in 2022.
In the fourth quarter Alba reported a profit of BD39.4 million (US$104.9 million), off by 79 percent from last year’s fourth quarter profit of BD181.2 million (US$481.8 million). Total comprehensive income in the quarter fell by 80 percent on the year, to BD36.6 million (US$97.3 million) from BD183 million (US$486.8 million). Gross profit was off by 63 percent on the year, from BD215.5 million (US$573.2 million) in 2021 to BD80.6 million (US$214.3 million) in 2022.
Alba’s 2022 full-year profit totaled BD416.2 million (US$1,106.8 million), down by 8 percent from last year’s total profit of BD451.9 million (US$1,201.8 million). Total comprehensive income for 2022 figured at BD452.7 million (US$1,204 million), off by only 1 percent on the year from BD458.5 million (US$1,219.5 million). A 2022 gross profit of BD545.6 million (US$1,451.1 million) was down 5 percent on the year from last year’s gross profit of BD577 million (US$1,534.7 million). Revenue for the year rose by 16 percent to BD1,840.9 million (US$4,896.1 million) in 2022, from BD1,584.8 million (US$4,215 million) in 2021.
Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Ali Al Baqali, was optimistic about his firm’s performance last year in a press release on the subject.
“Our resilience as a team has enabled us to generate an outstanding performance across key performance metrics as well as set new precedents and I am confident that we will continue to do so in 2023.”
“I call upon each employee and contractor’s personnel to act on our 2023 Objectives – Safety: our operating license, AL HASSALAH top-up, readiness to take off safely, and don’t limit yourself — to finish strong against the challenging economic backdrop,” he concluded.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2022 Alba’s smelter produced 1,600,111 metric tons of primary aluminium.
