Annual General Meeting

AdG's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting was held on the 15th May 2003.

The Company is currently in its 43rd year of operation, and is laying the groundwork for the future with the energy generation project, thereby continuing and reinforcing its role in the Nation's economy.

The Management of AdG reported on the Company's progress during 2002, on the financial results, on the efforts and achievements in the fields of Safety, Quality and the Environment, as well as on the Company's development plans in today's highly competitive environment.

It is AdG's aim to rank among the top companies in its sector, in the fields of employee health and safety, customer satisfaction with the quality of its services, and respect for the environment.
Through its persistent implementation of the Continuous Improvement System, the Company is pursuing a policy of continuous improvement of methods, organisation and management, with the twin aims of cost reduction and enhanced competitiveness.

In the field of Safety, efforts at the factory have resulted in the achievement of improved results, and been crowned with the Company's recognition both within the PECHINEY Group and, for the second year running, from the European Aluminium Union which awarded AdG the distinction of ?Best Safety Performance?, in the large industrial units category.

In the field of Quality Assurance AdG gained ISO 9001 - 2000 certification for product quality and customer service. At the same time, in the field of Environment, AdG is committed to a programme aimed at emission abatement - notably of greenhouse gases - and to the recycling of solid waste. The Company is also in the process of implementing an Environmental Management System, based on the ISO 14001 norm, for which it expects to gain ELOT certification at the end of the year.

In order to prepare for the future, and convinced that success stems from the development of employee satisfaction, ADG pays great attention to its personnel, through the application of social welfare schemes, insurance, and through the extension of its on-the-job training programmes, thereby recognising that high performance and good results both have a common starting point: human resources, the driving force which is also the Company's most highly prized capital.

In its report on the Company's financial results, Management referred to satisfactory performance in 2002, with production increases and sustainable profitability; in contrast with the prevailing economic climate and its unfavourable impact on the global aluminium market. Lower LME prices and the dollar's decline against the euro contributed to a 10% reduction in turnover, which amounted to ?362.9 million in 2002. This resulted in a reduction of pre-tax profits which fell from ?88.7 million in 2001 to euro 36 million in 2002.

In particular, alumina production reached record levels in 2002, with 750,000 tonnes of alumina hydrate, thereby outstripping the previous year's record of 709 thousand tonnes. In the aluminium sector, production in the electrolysis plant also reached the highest level in the Company's history, with 163.9 thousand tonnes. Production of billets also reached a record high of 108.5 thousand tonnes.

Continuing the Company's dividend policy, the Company's Board of Directors proposed a distribution of 0.9 euro per share. This proposal was approved by the General Assembly.

2002 was stable for AdG's subsidiary company, Delphes & Distomon Mining S.A., which presented extremely satisfactory financial and technical results. The latter were crowned with an all time safety record, reaching 25 months of accident-free operation of its mines.

The Company's Managing Director, M. Jacques Gani, also reported on developments in the Power and Heat Cogeneration Plant investment, with an overall estimated cost of euro 170 million.

He emphasised the fact that the new legislation concerning producer-consumers is expected to come into force, whereby power which does not pass through the grid and which is consumed at its place of generation, is not subject to transport costs.

He said that the Company is in the process of finalising its agreement with DEPA for the purchase of the natural gas which will drive the cogeneration plant, and added that the extension of the natural gas pipeline to the factory has been tendered by DEPA, and has been incorporated in the Operational Programme for Development.

Finally he noted that regarding the choice of the basic equipment for the cogeneration plant, AdG is in the final stages of evaluating the offers for the selection of the contractor.


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