Alcoa returns to profit as cost cuts, sales help

Dow industrials firm: Alcoa

PITTSBURGH -- Painful cost-cutting and rising sales to automakers helped the nation's largest aluminum producer return to profitability for the first time in nine months.

Alcoa Inc. yesterday also forecast an 11 percent increase in worldwide aluminum demand for the rest of the year. The lightweight metal is used in everything from airplanes to cars to houses.

Even though Alcoa reported a 71 percent drop in third-quarter profit from a year earlier, the results were a relief after three straight quarterly losses.

"We do clearly see growth, substantial growth . . . in China," said Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. "[The] second half of the year is clearly better than the first half in many industries and many regions."

The Pittsburgh-based company said rising demand from several industries, especially automakers, lifted its revenue, compared with the prior three months.

Investors cheered the news, sending Alcoa's shares up 5.2 percent in after-hours trading.

Alcoa earned $77 million, or 8 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compared with profit of $268 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.