Alcoa has lifted the veil on its quarterly accounts and has officially kicked off the quarterly season in the US. After the markets close the US aluminum giant announced that it closed the third quarter of 2011 with a net profit up to 172 million dollars, or 15 cents per share, compared to 61 million, or 6 cents per share, posted a year ago.
However, down from 322 million in the previous quarter, with 28 cents per share. Analysts were expecting EPS of 22 cents. Braking depends on decline in sales in Europe, while activity remains satisfactory in the rest of the planet. In any case, the German CEO of the group, Claus Kleifeld, foresees a growing year end, albeit at lower rates than the forecasts of the beginning of 2011. Shares of the aluminum giant are down 5%.
Positive indications have instead come from revenue, increased 21% to $6,4 billion from $5,29 billion in the same period in 2010. Even the market expectations stuck at 6,23 billion were beaten. The company led by Klaus Kleinfeld announced that the demand for aluminum will weaken in Europe and will drop by 13% in the second half of the year compared to the first six months of 2011. In the after hours, Alcoa shares lost more than 5%.
