Rusal Swings to First-Half Profit as Aluminum Prices Gain, Norilsk Rises
Oleg Deripaska, owner of United Co. Rusal
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Oleg Deripaska, owner of United Co. Rusal.
Oleg Deripaska, owner of United Co. Rusal. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, swung to a first-half profit from a loss as prices climbed and the value of its 25 percent stake in OAO Norilsk Nickel rose.
Net income was $1.27 billion for the six months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $868 million a year earlier, the Moscow-based company said in a regulatory statement. Sales jumped 42 percent to $5.3 billion.
Rusal, controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, restarted plants after prices jumped an average 48 percent in the first half from a year ago and global demand rose. Higher power cost in China, the biggest producer of the metal, is curbing output in the nation, rival Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. said.
“Profit in the first half is quite positive as aluminum prices have stabilized,” Helen Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd., said by phone before the result. “Aluminum prices may further gain this half, as the increasing costs of coal and power may trigger producers to raise prices. Rusal will be immune from the cost increase as it mainly uses hydropower.”
Rusal rose 0.7 percent to HK$7.65 in Hong Kong trading yesterday. The company sold shares in January for HK$10.80 each.
--Xiao Yu. Editors: Tan Hwee Ann, Stanley James.
To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Xiao Yu in Beijing at yxiao@bloomberg.net.
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