DALLAS – Alcoa Inc. reported a $2.34 billion fourth-quarter loss as it wrote down the value of years-old aluminum-smelting acquisitions to shift its focus to more profitable businesses.
An adjusted measure of profit fell short of Wall Street expectations as revenue fell 5 percent to $5.59 billion.
Shares slid 3.7 percent to $10.30 in aftermarket trading.
Alcoa is struggling with stubbornly weak aluminum prices – in the quarter, the company was paid an average of 7 percent less for the metal than it received in the same period a year earlier. The company is hoping that demand for aluminum in airplanes and autos will help boost prices. It predicted that overall demand would grow 7 percent this year, the same as in 2013.
Alcoa has idled one-sixth of its smelting capacity. It sees a brighter future in its segments that produce rolled aluminum and engineered products, which accounted for 57 percent of company revenue in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, the company’s loss equaled $2.19 per share. A year earlier, the company earned $242 million, or 21 cents per share.
The company said Thursday that without the smelting write-downs, restructuring charges and other special items, it would have earned 4 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 6 cents per share.
Its $5.59 billion in revenue beat the forecast of $5.36 billion from analysts surveyed by FactSet.
The company released fourth-quarter results just hours after announcing that a joint venture pleaded guilty to bribing officials in the Middle East kingdom of Bahrain. The affiliate and Alcoa agreed to pay $384 million in penalties.
An adjusted measure of profit fell short of Wall Street expectations as revenue fell 5 percent to $5.59 billion.
Shares slid 3.7 percent to $10.30 in aftermarket trading.
Alcoa is struggling with stubbornly weak aluminum prices – in the quarter, the company was paid an average of 7 percent less for the metal than it received in the same period a year earlier. The company is hoping that demand for aluminum in airplanes and autos will help boost prices. It predicted that overall demand would grow 7 percent this year, the same as in 2013.
Alcoa has idled one-sixth of its smelting capacity. It sees a brighter future in its segments that produce rolled aluminum and engineered products, which accounted for 57 percent of company revenue in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, the company’s loss equaled $2.19 per share. A year earlier, the company earned $242 million, or 21 cents per share.
The company said Thursday that without the smelting write-downs, restructuring charges and other special items, it would have earned 4 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 6 cents per share.
Its $5.59 billion in revenue beat the forecast of $5.36 billion from analysts surveyed by FactSet.
The company released fourth-quarter results just hours after announcing that a joint venture pleaded guilty to bribing officials in the Middle East kingdom of Bahrain. The affiliate and Alcoa agreed to pay $384 million in penalties.