Emirates Global Aluminium's 2022 profit surges to a record $2 bln
Business
EGA expects global demand for aluminium to grow 1-2% in 2023.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), one of the world's largest aluminium producers, said on Tuesday its annual net profit for 2022 surged 34% to a record 7.4 billion dirhams ($2.01 billion) on higher prices for the metal.
The United Arab Emirates firm said the average realised London Metal Exchange price for its metal was $2,715 per tonne.
Benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) reached a decade-high in March last year to $3,985 per tonne, before retreating to a low of $2,080 in September.
"The immediate outlook for aluminium remains under some pressure due to its close correlation to the health of the global economy," Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, EGA's chief executive, was quoted as saying in a statement.
EGA expects global demand for aluminium to grow 1-2% in 2023, Chief Financial Officer Zouhir Regragui said in a post-results earnings call.
Factors that will impact prices include overall economic conditions, including the health of the global economy after central banks began raising interest rates last year, demand from China after it ended its strict pandemic-related controls in early December and Russia's conflict with the Ukraine, said Regragui, adding that demand is still healthy.
EGA is owned equally by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and Dubai sovereign wealth fund the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
Bin Kalban in the post-earnings call said an initial public offering of the company was a decision for its shareholders.
Total dividends for 2022 to shareholders was 3.7 billion, the largest in EGA's history, the company said.
The company took an impairment loss of 1.1 billion dirhams for mining assets and related equipment at Guinea Alumina Corporation, to reflect the increased cost of capital and other market conditions in Guinea.
