RUSAL, the world's top aluminium maker, took a $1.4 billion hit in its 2011 financials on Monday on the value of its stake in Norilsk Nickel, whose fate is at the centre of a row between two Russian billionaire shareholders. The writedown, and a qualified opinion by RUSAL's auditor on the valuation of its stake in the Arctic miner, are likely to add to friction between RUSAL's CEO and main owner Oleg Deripaska and disgruntled minority investors led by Viktor Vekselberg.
The charge, resulting from a series of share buybacks by Norilsk last year, pushed RUSAL's net profit down by 92 percent to $237 million for the year.