ALCAN INC - Aims to Double Value Every Five Years Shareholders Told at - 100th Annual Meeting
Toronto, Ontario, Apr 25, 2002 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- With Maximizing Value as its governing objective, Alcan Inc. has set ambitious goals to deliver a level of financial performance and growth that will exceed investors' expectations and effectively double the value of the Company every five years.
Achieving that goal "will place us in the top 25 per cent of industrial companies in the world," Travis Engen, President and Chief Executive Officer, told shareholders attending the Company's 100th annual general meeting. "From a strategic perspective... we will be able to look back and point to 2001 as a pivotal period when Maximizing Value clearly took hold and began driving our decisions throughout Alcan," he added. "Managing for value means that we are focusing on strategies and outcomes, making sure that our projects take us where we need to be."
Mr. Engen cited Alcan's recent acquisition of a 20 per cent interest in Aluminerie Alouette as one of the latest examples of the Company pursuing its value-based agenda. Aluminerie Alouette operates a modern 243,000-tonne aluminum smelter in Sept-Iles, Quebec that is slated to undergo a major expansion. "We see Alouette as an excellent opportunity to enhance Alcan's asset base in primary metal."
Reviewing the activities of the past year, Mr. Engen also noted that Alcan had acted quickly to ensure its continued competitiveness in light of difficult business and market conditions. "With all this change occurring in our markets we recognized the need to change as well, or be left behind," he told shareholders. "The restructuring initiated last October is expected to generate incremental pre-tax earnings of $200 million - and this is on top of the $200 million improvement expected from merger synergies." In addition, Alcan has exercised rigid financial discipline through expense control and good management of working capital, preserving a strong balance sheet and safeguarding its earnings. "So, economic circumstances notwithstanding, we continue to lay the foundations for future growth."
