Financial Services Association, January 28 (Reporter Liang Xiangcai) The estimated impairment amount of 2.5 billion yuan hit a new high since the listing of China Alcoa International (601068.SH).

Today, China Alcoa International announced that, according to the company's estimates, a total net asset impairment provision (including reversals) of about 2.5 billion yuan in 2023; of this, provision for depreciation of inventory is about 600 million yuan, provision for depreciation of accounts receivable is about 600 million yuan, and provision for impairment of contract assets is about 1.3 billion yuan.

A Finance Association reporter combed through China Alcoa International's announcements over the years and found that accrued impairment, including bad accounts receivable and depreciation of contract assets, has dragged down the company's performance in recent years. The deducted impairment amounts for 2020-2023 were RMB 1,625 billion, RMB 1,339 billion, RMB 390 million, and RMB 2.5 billion, respectively; the company's net profit for the same period was -1,976 billion yuan, -1.07 billion yuan, 113 million yuan, and -2.5 billion to -2.8 billion yuan, respectively (according to the company's performance forecast announcement).

In fact, there are already signs that last year's high amount of money was calculated. According to the relevant announcement previously disclosed by the company, the amount of impairment for the first half of 2023 was 1,077 billion yuan, and net profit for the same period was -831 million yuan.

At the time, the amount of depreciation attracted market attention. At the 2023 semi-annual results briefing held, some investors asked if the company's assets have been depreciated on a large scale in recent years, and whether it will continue to accrue impairment losses in large amounts in the future. Zhao Hongmei, financial director and board secretary of China Alcoa International, responded that the company's anticipated credit risk estimates for contract assets in previous years were adequate. In the future, the company will further strengthen settlement collection management and improve asset quality.

A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that since China Alcoa International went public in 2018, the company or its subsidiaries have frequently been involved in lawsuits due to matters such as recovering project payments or material payments. However, this situation was particularly prominent in the past year. According to the Financial Services Association reporter's statistics, in 2023, China Alcoa International issued as many as 23 notices involving lawsuits.

It should be noted that, as of the end of September last year, the book value of the company's accounts receivable was 15.224 billion yuan, accounting for 45.58% of the company's current assets, and accounts payable of 12.676 billion yuan, accounting for 46.10% of current liabilities.

According to reports, China Alcoa International is controlled by China Aluminum Group and is mainly engaged in engineering design and consulting, engineering and construction contracting, equipment manufacturing and trading business. According to the company, it has established a leading position in the non-ferrous metals industry in China with its technology and experience, especially in the field of engineering contracting in the aluminum industry. In recent years, the company has undertaken a number of large-scale EPC projects at home and abroad.