EGA’s adjusted EBITDA climbs by 111% in H1 2021 in strongest-ever half-year financial performance

Emirates Global Aluminium reported strong half-year financial performance ever. The company’s profit stood at AED 1.74 billion ($473 million in the first half of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA came in at AED 3.49 billion ($950 million), an increase of 111 per cent year-on-year.

“Some 86 per cent of the company’s metal sales were value-added products compared to 75 per cent in H2 2020 and 69 per cent in H1 2020,” EGA said.

Al Taweelah alumina refinery produced 1.09 million tonnes, above the nameplate capacity of the plant which was commissioned in 2019. Guinea Alumina Corporation exported 5.85 million tonnes of bauxite ore as ramp-up continued, up from 5.47 million tonnes in H2 2020.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “Global demand for aluminium, the metal that makes modern life possible, is high as economies rebound from COVID-19. The commitment of many Governments around the world to build back better for future societal resilience means the long-term outlook for the aluminium market is good. At EGA, our focus on ‘premium aluminium’, made to customer specifications for the applications in which it will be used, positions us well to benefit from this increased demand.

“Although our financial performance in the first half of 2021 was EGA’s best ever, we could have done even better. Our metal production was slightly lower, and we are upgrading our carbon plants and debottlenecking elsewhere to return to metal output growth.   Like many other industrial companies, we were also affected by global logistics challenges including container availability, and we are adopting different approaches in response such as break-bulk shipping.

“Al Taweelah alumina refinery continued its world-class performance, exceeding nameplate capacity just two years after start-up.

“I am confident that EGA’s performance will continue to improve, making EGA increasingly attractive should our shareholders decide to proceed with an Initial Public Offering, which would be one of the UAE’s largest ever.”

Metal sales declined to 1.18 million tonnes, from 1.25 million tonnes in H2 2020 and 1.27 million tonnes in H1 2020.

EGA supplied some 442 customers with metal in the first half of 2021, in 57 countries. The company delivered 140 thousand tonnes of metal to local customers in the UAE.

Zouhir Regragui, Chief Financial Officer of EGA, said: “We have a positive outlook on the global aluminium market which we believe will remain strong over the long-term, driven by the accelerating push for decarbonisation, and stronger supply discipline.

“In these buoyant market conditions EGA is highly cash-generative, enabling us to further strengthen our balance sheet by deleveraging the company and preparing us for the next stage in our corporate development.”

EGA commissioned 52 new reduction cells at Al Taweelah in H1 and increased annual hot metal production capacity by 60 thousand tonnes.

A further 14 new reduction cells, adding an additional 18 thousand tonnes of annual production capacity are expected to be commissioned during the second half of 2021, EGA said.