Total sales fell $5 million to $515 million compared with the same period a year ago.

Second quarter net profit at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) – owner of the world’s No. 4 aluminium smelter – dropped more than 25 per cent to $41 million in the second quarter of 2013 as metal prices fell.

Total sales fell $5 million to $515 million compared with the same period a year ago.

Alba’s board recommended a dividend of 12 fils per share, a total of $45 million, the company statement said.

Bahrain’s government has approved gas allocation for its planned sixth production line, set to come onstream in 2015, which will add 400,000 tonnes to its 890,000-tonne capacity.