Hydro Security Incident

Safety of our people remains our top priority. On December 11, I received the worst possible call a CEO can get, from our joint venture in Qatar. A contractor tragically lost his life during a heavy storm while at work for Qatalum. Our most important job is to make sure our employees come home from work safely. Our overall performance on safety improved in 2019, but still short of our ultimate target of an injury-free work environment. Trade wars, Brexit uncertainty, weak markets and the embargo in Alunorte have weighed on our financial result in 2019. In addition, a malicious and sophisticated cyber-attack hit us hard last spring. I am immensely proud of how our people and organization handled the situation working day and night to recover. The lifting of the 19-month embargo on our alumina refinery Alunorte in Brazil was a long-awaited milestone. We can only succeed if we have trust in the local communities, and we have stepped up our infrastructure investments as well as community dialogue, social investments, education and competence building. Our responsibility is as important both on the inside and outside of the fence. Profitability On our 2019 Investor Day, we announced ambitious targets to lift profitability and drive long-term shareholder value. We launched a NOK 7.3 billion improvement program to be delivered by 2023, including a strategic review of the Rolled Products business area, and a capital returns target of 10 percent over the cycle (RoaCE). I am pleased to see that all business areas are making progress towards their 2023 target, under challenging market conditions. Our new strategic agenda is based on cost-competitive assets, operational excellence, strong market positions, innovation and differentiation on sustainable processes and products. A clear capital allocation framework is established based on different strategic modes for each business area. In my view we cannot achieve profitability in the long run without operating and producing...

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