Pittsburgh aluminium pioneer Alcoa Corporation reported results for the year’s third quarter last week. The firm’s bottom line struggled due to a lower sequential average realized price for both alumina and aluminium along with a jump in prices for raw materials and energy.
In the year’s third quarter Alcoa reported revenue of US$2.85 billion, down from the prior quarter’s total of US$3.6 billion and off from last year’s third quarter total of US$3.1 billion. Alcoa reported a net loss of US$746 million, reversing the prior quarter’s net profit of US$549 million and the prior year’s net profit of US$337 million. Included in the quarter’s losses were US$652 million in pension restructuring charges.
Alcoa generated US$134 million in cash from its operations and finished the penultimate quarter with a US$1.4 billion cash balance. During the quarter the firm completed a US$1 billion pension annuity transaction. To date Alcoa has carried out five pension annuity transactions in the past four years totaling US$3.3 billion of previous pension obligations and other such assets.
Alcoa President and CEO Roy Harvey said in a press release that the company is staying focused on improving the factors it can in order to remain in a good position in the sector.
“Across Alcoa, we have worked diligently over these past several years to build increased resilience in our business so we can compete through all phases of the commodity cycle, including the one we are experiencing now.”
“Despite a challenging quarter that saw significantly lower prices, and high costs for energy and raw materials, we maintained a strong balance sheet, including transferring pension obligations and returning cash to our stockholders,” he continued. “As we move forward, we are keenly focused on the items within our direct control, including boosting operational stability, advancing our breakthrough technologies and continuing to promote our sustainable product offerings so we can benefit from the positive, long-term fundamentals for the aluminum industry.”
