Dubal profit jumps 65%

Dubai Aluminium profit jumped 65 per cent to Dh3.515 billion last year as compared to Dh2.13 billion in the previous year on increased production and sales, said a press statement on Wednesday. The state-owned company’s revenues increased Dh28.5 per cent to Dh11.144 billion last year as compared to Dh8.67bn in the previous year. Abdulla J M Kalban, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “It’s also important to note that the improvement in Dubal’s net profit was partly attributable to our company’s share in the profits of Emirates Aluminium (Emal), which amounted to Dh622 million in 2011 during its first full year of production, whereas 2010 was still impacted by pre-operating expenses and costs that could not be capitalized contributing to the loss of Dh208 million. Reducing budgeted capital expenditures and maintaining tight working capital control contributed significantly to achieving improved cash generation from operating activities and free cash flow. This provided support to maintain a very strong balance sheet for Dubal.” The use of advanced in-house developed technologies that offer improved productivity and other operating benefits, together with higher amperage levels and efficiency improvements, enabled Dubal to produce 1,014,795 metric tonnes of hot metal in 2011. “This marked the second consecutive year that Dubal has surpassed the one million metric tonne hot metal milestone, and also represented growth of 1.3 per cent on the 1,002,014 metric tonnes produced in 2010,” said Kalban. “Going forward, ever-higher hot metal production is expected each year, driven by further productivity gains.” Moreover, both cast product and sales volumes exceeded one million metric tonnes for the third consecutive year, with Dubal selling 1.7 per cent more metal in 2011 than in 2010. These statistics highlight the company’s ranking as a major supplier of premium quality, highest purity aluminium to the global market, especially as more than 90 per cent of Dubal’s annual production is exported to more than 300 customers in at least 50 countries in various parts of the world. Importantly, Dubal met or outperformed virtually all measures relating to the environment in 2011, specifically with regard to overall perfluorocarbon emissions, which have dropped by 88 per cent compared to 1990 levels. Dubal’s total fluoride emissions continued to decrease throughout 2011, resulting in an overall decline of 38 per cent since 2000. With regard to occupational health, Dubal achieved zero lost work days due to heat stress for the sixth year in a row and none due to heat rash for the fifth consecutive year. 2011 also witnessed the third biennial Voice Your Opinion employee satisfaction survey, in which 84 per cent of employees participated. The survey, conducted by Hay Group (an international management consultancy) and analysed using industry benchmarks, showed that Dubal ranks 7 per cent above the Global Industry Norm, 4 per cent above the Middle East Norm and on par with the High Performing Companies Norm. In terms of foreign investments to secure raw material stocks, good progress was made during 2011. Dubal is currently engaged in strategic upstream bauxite/alumina projects in Brazil, Republic of Guinea, and Cameroon, that are in various stages of development. The performance of Dubal’s proprietary DX Reduction Technology continued to advance throughout the year: the amperage of the 40 DX Reduction Technology cells at Dubal’s Jebel Ali site has been increased to 380 kA, while parallel efforts enabled a lowering in energy consumption, higher efficiency operating parameters and new emissions benchmarks. “The operating parameters being recorded consistently clearly demonstrate the outstanding performance capabilities of DX Reduction Technology at industrial scale and put it at the level of the best available technologies,” said Kalban. “DX Reduction Technology has also been installed in the Emal Phase I potlines, where the cells are performing as impressively as at Dubal.” Kalban also highlighted the progress of the company’s investment projects. The most notable of these is Emal in the Al Taweelah area of Abu Dhabi, a joint venture in which Dubal is a 50 per cent shareholder with Mubadala Development Company. Commissioning of all 756 reduction cells in Emal Phase I was completed in record time by the end of 2010, enabling the plant to operate at its full capacity of 740,000 metric tonnes per annum from 2011 onwards. Indeed, in terms of its contractual duties, DubalL marketed and sold 748,000 mt of Emal metal across the world during 2011. Emal Phase II was announced in July 2011. A new 444-cell potline will be built which, together with a technology upgrade of the existing cells, will increase Emal’s annual production capacity to 1.3 million metric tonnes by the end of 2014. Dubal DX Technology has been licensed to and installed at Emal Phase I; while DX+ Technology has been specified for EMAL Phase II. Each year, the company exports more than 90 per cent of its annual production to more than 300 customers in about 50 countries around the world. UAE Nationals hold 65 per cent of senior management positions, with the overall proportional representation of UAE Nationals being 15.4 per cent.