The cyclic stability and high rate discharge performance of (La,Mg)(5)Ni(19) multiphase alloy were investigated in this work. The results show that the alloy is composed of Pr(5)Co(19)-type (2H), Ce(5)Co(19)-type (3R), CaCu(5)-type and Ce(2)Ni(7)-type phase after annealing at 1123 K. The total phase abundance of Pr(5)Co(19)-type (2H) and Ce(5)Co(19)-type (3R) is 63.3%. That composition decides the good cyclic stability both in repeated hydriding/dehydriding and charging/discharging process for this alloy. moreover, the alloy shows the higher high rate discharge capacity at room temperature and it remains 140 mA h/g at the current density of 3600 mA/g. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.