PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The restructuring of the Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC) joint venture (JV) between ASX-listed Alumina and US major Alcoa has seen Alumina swing back into the black during the full 2015 financial year.
The company reported on Thursday a statutory net profit after tax of $88-million for the full year, compared with a net loss of $98-million in the previous financial year.
“Our financial results improved significantly, reflecting in part the benefits of restructuring the AWAC portfolio. While the alumina price experienced weakness later in the year, we have nonetheless delivered our best financial results and highest dividends since 2008,” said Alumina CEO Peter Wasow.
The JV partners have taken the decision to curtail some one-million tonnes of refining capacity from the AWAC operations in the hopes of improving the JV’s cost position and ensuring its continued competitiveness in the prevailing market conditions.
“Prices fell sharply in the second half, but whatever markets have in store, Alumina is well prepared. The AWAC asset portfolio is stronger than ever and the company’s borrowings are at very low levels. Together, this means that we can withstand even the very low prices that we saw at the start of 2016,” said Wasow.
Alumina reported that cash from operations increased by $333-million to $809-million, while cash costs of production decreased by $33/t.