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Alcoa posts smaller loss thanks to better prices, lower costs
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Alcoa Inc., aided by improving aluminum prices and lower corporate costs, reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss Monday afternoon.
Net loss was $277 million, or 28 cents a share. In the year-earlier quarter, Alcoa lost $1.2 billion, or $1.49 a share, when aluminum prices and demand collapsed.
Sales fell 4% to $5.4 billion. Excluding charges, Alcoa said it earned 7 cents a share.
/quotes/comstock/13*!aa/quotes/nls/aa AA 16.29, -1.16, -6.65%
/quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed INDU 10,664, +45.88, +0.43%
100%
On that basis, analysts had forecast Alcoa /quotes/comstock/13*!aa/quotes/nls/aa (AA 16.29, -1.16, -6.65%) to earn 5 cents a share on sales of $4.9 billion, according to FactSet Research.
Alcoa, which has lost more than $2 billion over the past year, said it generated positive free cash flow for the first time since June 2008. Free cash flow was $947 million.
When the global economy collapsed, the Pittsburgh-based company closed plants, cut its workforce and slashed its dividend.
Alcoa has been working through a glut of excess metal it sells to automotive, construction and aerospace industries.
Sales have now ticked higher in each of the past three quarters. But they haven't topped 2008's fourth quarter of $5.7 billion. Rising aluminum prices are helping Alcoa. Prices rose 9.5% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, according to Citigroup research.
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Alcoa posts smaller loss thanks to better prices, lower costs
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Alcoa Inc., aided by improving aluminum prices and lower corporate costs, reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss Monday afternoon.
Net loss was $277 million, or 28 cents a share. In the year-earlier quarter, Alcoa lost $1.2 billion, or $1.49 a share, when aluminum prices and demand collapsed.
Sales fell 4% to $5.4 billion. Excluding charges, Alcoa said it earned 7 cents a share.
/quotes/comstock/13*!aa/quotes/nls/aa AA 16.29, -1.16, -6.65%
/quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed INDU 10,664, +45.88, +0.43%
100%
On that basis, analysts had forecast Alcoa /quotes/comstock/13*!aa/quotes/nls/aa (AA 16.29, -1.16, -6.65%) to earn 5 cents a share on sales of $4.9 billion, according to FactSet Research.
Alcoa, which has lost more than $2 billion over the past year, said it generated positive free cash flow for the first time since June 2008. Free cash flow was $947 million.
When the global economy collapsed, the Pittsburgh-based company closed plants, cut its workforce and slashed its dividend.
Alcoa has been working through a glut of excess metal it sells to automotive, construction and aerospace industries.
Sales have now ticked higher in each of the past three quarters. But they haven't topped 2008's fourth quarter of $5.7 billion. Rising aluminum prices are helping Alcoa. Prices rose 9.5% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, according to Citigroup research.
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