Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is close to completing a BD63m ($163m) loan deal with a group of mainly local banks, according to sources in Bahrain.

The deal will be used to refinance an existing bond that matures in March 2013. The new loan will have a tenor of three years and is being arranged by Alba itself.

The company, one of the top 10 largest aluminium producers in the world, is understood to want banks to agree commitments to the new facility now but funds will not be transferred until next year.

In November 2010, the aluminium producer listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Its profit in the second quarter of 2012 fell to BD35.6m from BD69.7m in the same period in 2011.