Alro Slatina posts lei 372.4bn in net profit

(story to be published in tomorrow’s issue, March 27)

Alro Slatina aluminium and aluminium derivatives producer on 1999 obtained a net profit of 372.4 billion lei up from 71.5 billion lei posted one year ago, for a turnover of 3,789.9. Over the same period of time, the company posted net incomes amounting to 4,071 billion lei and total expenditures of 3,419 billion lei. The company’s total output on 1999 was 174,100 tonnes of aluminium, 60 tonnes higher than the level of the previous year. The company’s General Assembly of Shareholders on Wednesday approved the accounting balance for 1999 and the incomes and expenditures budget on 2000. Net dividend was established at 10,913 lei/share for natural persons and at 10,339 lei/share for legal persons. For the year 2000, the management of the company estimates a gross profit of 1,019 billion lei and total expenditures of 5,352 billion lei for a turnover of 6,371 billion lei. Throughout 2000, the company will invest 14.85 million dollars mainly aimed at modernising production lines, purchasing new equipment and machinery and continuing investments in development, their value amounting to about 5.49 million dollars. The General Assembly of Shareholders of the company also approved the opening of a letter of credit at Citibank Romania, worth 9.45 million euros, for the modernisation of electrolysis sections 5 – 8, in co-operation with Aluminium Pechiney. Alro has a share capital of 318.92 billion lei divided into shares with a nominal value of 25,000 lei. The significant shareholders of the company include the State Ownership Fund with a stake of 54.74 percent, Broadhurst Investments Ltd with 6.12 percent of the shares, Conef SA with 10.57 percent and Romanian Investment company Cyprus with 8.66 percent, the rest of shares belonging to small shareholders. At the end of last week the company signed a privatisation consultancy contract with a consortium made up of the French bank Paribas and Central Europe Trust Romania. The two companies are the most viable of the 62 included in the PSAL agreement with the World Bank for which privatisation, restructuring or liquidation contracts were signed last week. The two companies are among the best performing Romanian companies in the aluminium industry and at the same time two of the important players on the Romanian capital market, where their shares have lately posted important growth. The company’s shares are traded on the second tier of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the last average price on March 21 amounting to 149,000 lei/share.