Alcoa Posts Loss on Fewer Orders and Lower Prices

Aluminum prices dropped about 12 percent in the fourth quarter. They have fallen more than 27 percent from their peak in April.

Alcoa’s performance can reflect global economic trends because its products are used in a wide range of businesses like aircraft, automobiles, commercial vehicles like semitrailers, construction and pipe for the oil and gas industry. About half of its sales are in the United States. An additional 27 percent are in Europe.

As a result, Alcoa has looked for ways to reduce costs. It plans to cut global smelting capacity 12 percent by closing a smelter in Alcoa, Tenn., and curtailing operations in Texas, Italy and Spain.

Alcoa said that it lost $191 million, or 18 cents a share, in the October-to-December quarter. That compares with income of $258 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. It was the company’s first net loss since the first quarter of 2010.

The most recent quarter included $159 million in one-time revamping charges, the bulk of which came from Alcoa’s plan to close and curtail some smelting operations. Excluding that, the loss was $34 million, or 3 cents a share.

Alcoa also said its earnings suffered from higher costs for energy and transportation.

Revenue rose to $6 billion from $5.65 billion, although business was down in most areas; including construction, industrial products, packaging and commercial transportation. Sales to automobile manufacturers fell 2 percent.

Alcoa had record higher revenue from its aerospace and industrial gas turbine businesses.

For all of 2011, Alcoa reported net income of $611 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with $254 million, or 24 cents a share, in 2010. Revenue rose to $25 billion from $21 billion.

Looking ahead, Alcoa’s chief executive, Klaus Kleinfeld, predicted that cutbacks in aluminum production would create a global deficit in aluminum supplies of about 600,000 metric tons this year. He also forecast that global aluminum demand would increase 7 percent in 2012.

In the coming year, the company expects that European sales will remain weak and that high costs for energy and raw materials will continue to hurt earnings. Global aerospace and automotive demand for aluminum is expected to stay strong.

While European markets may be weak, Alcoa sees improving demand this year in China, especially for beverage can packaging, automotive and commercial vehicles and construction.

Alcoa released its earnings after the market closed on Monday. Its shares ended regular trading up 27 cents at $9.43 a share. In the last 52 weeks, the price ranged from $8.45 to $18.47 a share.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5137c01b5006733f01515d96fa9ef3d7