VIMETCO N.V. Amsterdam, 26 August 2015: Vimetco N.V. (LSE: VICO, "The Company", "Vimetco"), the global producer of primary and processed aluminium products announces today its interim financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2015.
Financial and Operational Highlights
H1 2015 | H1 2014 | ||
Sales | USD million | 855 | 992 |
EBITDA1) | USD million | 129 | 90 |
EBITDA margin | 15% | 9% | |
Net (loss)/ profit | USD million | -142 | - 115 |
Production | |||
Electrolytic aluminium production | metric tonnes | 428,600 | 401,100 |
Processed aluminium production | metric tonnes | 54,800 | 95,300 |
Alumina production | metric tonnes | 195,300 | 196,800 |
Bauxite production | metric tonnes | 689,000 | 651,300 |
Coal production | metric tonnes | 309,300 | 596,500 |
Energy production | MWh | 3,281,300 | 3,346,600 |
¹EBITDA: profit before tax, net finance items (operating profit), depreciation, amortisation and impairment.
Gheorghe Dobra, Chief Executive Officer commented:
"The aluminium industry remained a challenging environment in the first six months of 2015 with volatile aluminium prices and high uncertainties on the currency markets. Although the average aluminium price (cash) for the first half of 2015 stood at 1,783 USD/tonne, slightly above the level registered in the same period of last year (i.e. 1,753 USD/tonne), during the second part of the semester it had a decreasing trend falling below 1,650 USD/tonne by 30 June 2015, one of the lowest levels during the last six years. This determines us to intensify even more our efforts to control costs and to increase the efficiency of our operations. Therefore we continued to invest in innovation, in China succeeding to obtain the status of a certified supplier for automotive plates.
A major step for our Group was achieved by our Romanian segment, where our subsidiaries were exempted from paying 85% of the green certificates quota, as they are regarded as big electricity consumers in their production processes. This exemption is a vital step for our operations in Romania as it represents a significant reduction in the electricity related cost, which is a key input for the aluminium production technology. This measure will allow our subsidiaries to compete equitably with the other aluminium producers in the European Union, where similar measures have already been implemented several years ago.
On the other side in China, despite the poor aluminium environment and stock exchange shocks that strongly affected our results, we continued to invest in promoting our brand image and expanding our presence on the international market for the products made of high quality aluminium alloys dedicated to the transportation industries. As a consequence Zhongfu Industry obtained the Quality Management System Certificate for production of parts and provision of respective services in the automotive industry, issued by the National Quality Assurance (NQA), Great Britain, certificate which provides our subsidiary the status of a certified supplier for automotive plates. China facilities continue to enlarge their export supply to USA, Germany, Russia, Republic of Korea, Indonesia and other countries.
Despite the tough circumstances, we succeeded to improve our EBITDA at USD 129 million compared to USD 90 million during the similar period of 2014, mainly thanks to our Romanian subsidiary, Alro, which succeeded to obtain positive results after three difficult years of loss making. However, the net results for H1 2015 were significantly influenced by the impairment recognized for our coal mine assets in China on the background of a severe drop of the thermal coal prices by approx. 15% during the last six months with a similar decrease in the analysts' forecasts for the next several years. As a consequence the consolidated net loss amounted to USD 142 million, out of which the loss attributable to Vimetco NV amounted to USD 66 million.
In the first six months of 2015, we remained committed to our investment strategy and we budgeted important amounts to continue upgrading our equipments and in this way to achieve more efficient operations while keeping our focus on increasing the output and sales of high value added products. Moreover, we continued as well to show our commitment to our ecological footprint as, for example in Romania our aim is to be a green organisation without emissions or waste, and to the people who work with us. I am confident that we can obtain these results considering our employees' perseverance within the Company, their curiosity to innovate and their commitment to obtain the best results. On the other hand our mission is to constantly develop our products portfolio by diversifying it and by increasing the quality of our products, in order to meet the requirements of our most demanding customers and to ensure that we have secured the necessary raw materials, thus ensuring the long term profitability and sustainability of our business."
- Ends -
About Vimetco
Vimetco N.V. is a global, vertically integrated producer of primary and processed aluminium products with production assets in China, Romania and Sierra Leone, and a holding company in The Netherlands. Vimetco N.V. controls annual production capacities of up to one million tonnes of electrolytic aluminium, 340,000 tonnes of processed aluminium products, 600,000 tonnes of alumina, 1.7 million tonnes of bauxite, 2.25 million tonnes of coal, 3 x 300 MW of electricity and 318,000 tonnes of baked anodes per year. Vimetco's global depositary receipts are listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: VICO).
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