Aluminium Bahrain posts 65.1% rise in Q3 net income

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), owner of one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, reported a 65.1 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on Sunday.

Net income for the three months to the end of September was BD14.3m ($38m), it said in a statement, up from BD8.7m in the third quarter of 2015.

“Alba was able to raise net income on the back of a solid operational performance despite a relatively weak physical premium environment,” said chief executive Tim Murray.

SICO Bahrain had forecast Alba would make a net profit of BD16.9m.

The company also said it expected to finalise the export credit agency financing for its Line 6 expansion by the first quarter of 2017.

Alba will become the world’s largest single aluminium smelter complex, boosting its annual output by 540,000 tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes per year by adding a sixth “potline”, used in producing the metal from raw materials such as bauxite.

Last month it said it had closed a $1.5bn loan with regional and international banks that will fund the Line 6 expansion.