Bahrain Aluminum Extrusion Company (Balexco), posted a 6 per cent increase in its net profit in 2015, with the profit reaching BD1.703 million ($4.485 million).

This was revealed at the company’s ordinary general assembly held recently. The meeting was chaired by board member Abdul Nabi Naser Salman, on behalf of the chairman of the board of directors.

He said company faced many challenges in 2014, including the problem of congestion on King Fahad Causeway, which resulted in a delay of deliveries to customers, particularly to the Saudi market, the company’s major market.

There was also an increase in demand for the light thickness chops by the region markets, at a time when the company’s main focus was on the large thickness chops.

The slowdown in the construction sector exacerbated such difficulties, he said.

In 2015, the sharp decline in oil prices and the consequent measures taken by the government to decrease spending had a severe negative impact on the company’s markets and sales. Bahrain market was the fastest to get affected by this, compared with other markets in the GCC, he said.

The slowdown in the Chinese economy as well as the decrease in the added value on raw materials also had negative impact on the overall performance of the company, said Salman.

Salman said the company will spare no effort to encounter such challenges.

He revealed that the Middle East Technical Company, a sister company of Balexco, is progressing steadily and contributing greatly to the company’s operational and financial resources.

The general assembly approved a cash dividend of 5 per cent of the paid-up capital to the shareholders, as well as bonus shares of 5 per cent of the paid-up capital (one share for every 20 shares).  – TradeArabia News Service