ALRO Group turnover up by 27 percent in first nine months

ALRO, one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers in Europe, measured by production capacity, announces today its consolidated financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2021.

The Group’s turnover increased by 27 percent (1-3Q 2021: RON 2.5 billion vs. Q1-Q3 2020: RON 2 billion). ALRO Group net result for the period was a loss of RON 25 million (1-3Q 2020: a net profit of RON 273 million), while the operating result (EBIT) was RON 164 million in 1-3Q 2021 (1-3Q 2020: RON 355 million).

“We have managed to overcome a 2020 tough year marked by severe uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic and the 1-3Q 2021 marked by recovery, but also by new challenges in terms of energy, raw material prices and legislative changes at local and European level. This new reality pushed us again to act cautiously and stay on alert to succeed in maintaining all our production units 100 percent functional, without disturbances in the distribution chain and layoffs”, said Marian Nastase, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ALRO. “The effects of the general improvement of the aluminium market helped us to report better results, but these have been partially offset by the abnormal evolution of the energy market, characterized by an unprecedented increase in prices also due to the high pressure for energy decarbonisation in Europe and Romania. Under these circumstances, we implemented several measures to mitigate this unusual situation and continued our investments plan in energy efficiency projects while keeping our focus to gain autonomy from an energy perspective, too”, added Marian Nastase.

The worldwide economic recovery in 2021 and the increase in demand in the automotive, construction, and general engineering industries resulted in higher sales for the Group’s products in 1-3Q 2021, especially for billets and flat-rolled products. The aerospace industry, where the Group sells very high value-added flat-rolled products, continued to record low levels but began to show signs of recovery at a relatively slow pace in Q3 2021.

The price of aluminium continued its upward trend and reached an average of 2,384 USD/tonne in 1-3Q 2021, up by 751 USD/tonne compared to the similar period of 2020. This upward trend continued in 3Q 2021 when the LME average was 2,648 USD/tonne, higher with 944 USD/ tonne as compared to the average reported in 3Q 2020 (e.g., 1,704 USD/tonne), reaching a maximum level in 1-3Q 2021 of 2,950 USD/tonne on 13 September 2021. Thus, the stable production performance, increased volumes sold, and the attractive aluminium prices in the analysed period led to sales value of primary aluminium products up by 26 percent and by 25 percent for the processed products in 1-3Q 2021 compared to the similar period of 2020. The Primary Aluminium Division reported increased production quantities by 9 percent in 1-3Q 2021 vs. 1-3Q 2020 and 14 percent higher in 3Q 2021 vs. 3Q 2020. The same upward trend was recorded by the Processed Aluminium Division, by 13 percent higher in 1-3Q 2021 vs. 1-3Q 2020 and by 31 percent higher in 3Q 2021 vs. 3Q 2020.