MANAMA: Alba, the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, generated a net income of BD92.5 million ($245.9m) in 2017, an increase of 91 per cent compared with BD48.4m in 2016.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, Alba posted a net income of BD23.5m, up 72pc from BD13.7m for the same period in 2016, said a statement.

Alba closed 2017 strongly and the sound financial performance reflected the company’s resilience in setting the benchmark on Line 5 recovery and was driven by favourable management performance, it said.

The company reported total sales of BD857.8m in 2017, up by 28pc as against BD669.8m in 2016. The fourth quarter total sales last year stood at BD252.7m, up by 39pc versus BD181.6m for the same period in 2016 – both driven by higher LME prices, it added.

The total sales volume was up by 0.4pc year-on-year to 978,195 tonnes, while production topped 981,016 tonnes.

Value-added sales last year averaged 57pc when compared with 56pc in 2016.

Alba’s board of directors recommended a dividend distribution of BD36.8m for 2017 which will be paid from March 21 this year.

The company released its full-year and fourth quarter of 2017 results during a meeting of its board of directors yesterday.

The board also approved the appointment of Dr Abdulla Habib as acting chief operations officer with immediate effect.

Alba said its priorities for 2018 are:

• Continued focus on safety with new “Safety Selfie” initiative
• Project Titan - Phase III (2018: 1,000,000 tonnes and $60per tonne)
• Leveraging strong physical demand on value-added sales
• Implementation of Line 6 Expansion Project on schedule; finalising of ECA financing – second tranche by the first quarter this year; and award of the remaining packages