Chalco's H1 profit rises 15.1 pct y/y on lower costs

Accendra Health

15/08/2018 12:19

* Chalco posts 848.3 mln yuan first-half profit
    * Q2 net income of 539.7 mln yuan - Rtrs calculation
    * Company is listed arm of China's top state aluminium
producer

    BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Aluminum Corp of China Ltd
 601600.SS   2600.HK , known as Chalco, on Wednesday said its
first-half net profit rose by 15.1 percent from a year earlier
as lower costs offset a more than 10 percent drop in revenues. 
    Chalco  ACH.N , the listed arm of China's biggest
state-owned aluminium producer, Chinalco, posted net income of
848.3  million yuan ($122.77 million) in the first half of 2018,
compared with 751.3 million yuan a year earlier, according to a
statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1L33CX
    The company in April reported a first quarter net profit of
308.6 million yuan, implying a second quarter net profit of
539.7 million yuan. That would represent a 46.7 percent
year-on-year jump and Chalco's best quarterly profit since the
third quarter of 2017.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1S049Z
    Revenues came in at 82.1 billion yuan for the six months,
down 10.2 percent year-on-year due to lower sales from Chalco's
trading arm, it said. But this also resulted in lower cost of
sales as overall operating costs dropped by 9.5 billion yuan.   
    Shanghai aluminium prices  SAFcv1  fell by 10.4 percent over
the first quarter of this year as Chinese supply continued to
rise despite winter restrictions on smelters. It then recovered
1.3 percent in the second quarter amid U.S. sanctions on
Russia's Rusal  0486.HK , one of the world's top producers.
    Chalco, which commissioned a new 500,000 tonnes per year
smelter in Inner Mongolia late last year, avoided any losses to
metal production last winter since its plants lie outside the 28
northern Chinese cities that were subject to output curbs.
    Chalco shares closed down 2.7 percent in Shanghai earlier on
Wednesday. They have fallen by 50 percent since trading resumed
in late February after a five-month hiatus pending announcement
of a restructuring plan.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QG1AN 
    ($1 = 6.9094 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((tom.daly@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 6627 1023;))