, the largest US aluminium producer, reported its first quarterly profit in a year today as it benefited from improving metal prices and saved money by cutting jobs and raw-material costs.
The profit excluding certain items was 4 US cents a share, exceeding analysts’ average estimate for a 9-cent loss. The net income of $US77 million, or 8 US cents a share, fell from $US268 million, or 33 US cents, a year earlier, said today in a statement. Sales dropped 34 per cent to $US4.62 billion.
A stronger-than-tipped result for Alcoa may help lift Australian mining stocks, including joint venture partner Alumina and rival aluminium giant Rio Tinto. Alcoa's own stock rose 86 cents to $US15.06 after closing at $US14.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Alcoa cut 18,000 jobs in the 12 months through June as the global recession depressed demand and prices for aluminium. Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld, who took over in May 2008, in March also announced plans to cut $US2.4 billion in costs for items including raw materials and transportation by 2010.
"The vast majority of improvement is cost-cutting as opposed to an improving top line," John Stephenson, who helps manage C$1.5 billion ($US1.4 billion) at First Asset Investment Management in Toronto, including shares, said before the results were announced. "What the company has done a great job at is reducing costs. That has been the story so far."
, the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to announce results for the three months through September 30, posted adjusted losses of 26 US cents a share in the second quarter, 54 US cents in the first quarter and 28 US cents in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company is projected to report per- share profit of 6 US cents in the fourth quarter, according to the Bloomberg survey.
The average price of the metal used in cars, planes and cans was 83 US cents a pound in the third quarter, up 24 per cent from 67 US cents in the second quarter, according to Deutsche Bank AG estimates. That was still 35 per cent below the average price of $US1.27 a pound in the third quarter of 2008.
rose 31 US cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $US14.20 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, before the results were released. The shares rose 23 per cent this year through yesterday.