Aluminium Co. of Malaysia Bhd announced unaudited consolidated earnings results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2012. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of MYR 69,698,000 compared to MYR 61,829,000 a year ago. Loss from operations was MYR 3,906,000 compared to MYR 1,108,000 a year ago. Loss before tax was MYR 3,996,000 compared to MYR 1,163,000 a year ago. Net loss attributable to owners of the company was MYR 3,152,000 compared to MYR 807,000 a year ago. Basic loss per ordinary share was 2.38 sen compared to 0.61 sen a year ago. The Groups result attributable to equity holders of the Company for the current quarter was a loss mainly due to the unexpected significant increase in metal premium which was not passed through to selected specialty product customers coupled with the increased usage of imported re-roll coils for compensating capacity constraints arising from the unexpected outage on one of the caster lines. The Group recorded a pre-tax loss due to the sudden surge in metal premium which was not able to be passed through to selected specialty products customers coupled with increased usage of imported re-roll coils to compensate for capacity shortfall to meet customers orders as the current quarter was the period of the planned annual shutdown maintenance.

For the nine months, the company reported revenue of MYR 211,316,000 compared to MYR 207,474,000 a year ago. Loss from operations was MYR 4,745,000 compared to profit from operations of MYR 2,277,000 a year ago. Loss before tax was MYR 5,009,000 compared to profit before tax of MYR 2,039,000 a year ago. Net loss attributable to owners of the company was MYR 4,482,000 compared to profit attributable to owners of the company of MYR 1,613,000 a year ago. Basic loss per ordinary share were 3.39 sen compared to basic earnings per ordinary share of 1.22 sen a year ago. Net cash used in operating activities was MYR 1,593,000 compared to net cash flow from operating activities of MYR 12,897,000 a year ago. Purchase of fixed assets was MYR 6,300,000 compared to MYR 18,471,000 a year ago.

The group expects to return to profitability in the fourth quarter ending March 31, 2013, by increasing its production capacity so as to reduce reliance on imported reroll coils and continuing with initiatives to operate more efficiently.