Romania’s ALRO Sees A Drop In Profits Despite Higher Turnover

Romanian group ALRO released production numbers for the first nine months of this year, showing that the net profit went down by 12.8 per cent year-on-year despite higher turnover in raw materials.

The company – one of the biggest aluminium producers in Europe – experienced a decline in the sales of processed aluminium and a rise in the sales of alumina and primary aluminium. The turnover increased by12 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year.

“From the quantity point of view, the sales of processed aluminium decreased by 4% compared to the same period of 2017 due to the fact that, starting from July 2018, ALRO initiated a program of modernisation of one of its rolling mills. During the time interval when the modernisation will take place, in order to compensate the lower sales of certain processed aluminium products, the group will steer its sales and output efforts towards other aluminium products, nevertheless monitoring a product mix that will ensure advantageous profit margins,” reads the group’s nine-month report.

ALRO – founded in Romania’s southern city of Slatina in 1963 – is one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers in Europe by production capacity. In July, Russian-owned groups Vimetco and Conef – joint owners of the aluminium smelter – launched a secondary public offer for 54% of ALRO shares. The public offer failed to materialise when sellers, brokers and intermediaries could not reach an agreement on the final share price.