Alcoa, the Pittsburgh-based aluminum producer, announced that its loss in the third quarter has narrowed, despite continued pressure from lower aluminum prices. The company reported a loss of $168 million, or 94 cents a share, compared to a loss of $746 million, or $4.17 a share, for the same period last year.
When excluding one-time items, the adjusted loss per share was $1.14, exceeding analysts’ expectations of a loss of $1.06, according to FactSet.
Alcoa cited lower average realized pricing for alumina and aluminum, along with a negative currency impact of $83 million, as the main factors affecting their results. Although the company managed to reduce raw material and production costs, it was not enough to offset these challenges.
Total revenue also experienced a decline of 8.7%, amounting to $2.6 billion. However, this figure slightly surpassed analysts’ predictions of $2.59 billion.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive William Oplinger expressed the company’s determination to improve margins through operational productivity. Alcoa plans to work diligently across its global system to achieve this goal.
