Rusal posts $17 million net loss in fourth quarter

MOSCOW: Russia’s Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, posted a fourth-quarter net loss, but reiterated its positive industry outlook following the liting of US sanctions on the company in January.

Rusal’s adjusted net loss for the quarter of $17 million, compared with a $338 million profit in the previous quarter and a $350 million profit in the final quarter of 2017.

However, a lot has changed at the Hong Kong-listed company since the final quarter of last year, ater the US Treasury lited sanctions that had been imposed on Rusal in April 2018.

The move meant investors no longer faced a deadline to divest from Rusal and from other companies in Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska’s empire. It sent Rusal’s share price soaring.

The aluminium producer is now preparing to restore previous contracts with clients and is also talking to new clients, its chief executive was cited by Interfax as saying.

Rusal’s Hong Kong-listed shares have surged 48.7 per cent so far this year, against a 52.7 per cent fall in 2018. In its fourth quarter results, the company said recurring net profit fell 83.8 per cent from the previous three months, but rose 7.8 per cent year-on-year.

Recurring net profit is defined as adjusted net profit plus the company’s net effective share in results of Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel.

Prices for aluminium were at $1,968 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in the fourth quarter, down 6.3 per cent year-on-year, Rusal said in its statement.