Alcoa Plans Up to $1 Billion in Asset Sales Amid Growth Fears
16 Octubre 2019 - 5:16PM
Noticias Dow Jones
By Micah Maidenberg
Alcoa Corp. plans to sell up to $1 billion in assets and may
close facilities over the next few years as it grapples with
slowing economic growth that has driven aluminum prices lower,
damaging its financial performance.
The Pittsburgh-based manufacturer said Wednesday it has launched
a review of the company meant to cut expenses and point it toward
sustainable profits.
The company said it would try to sell what it called noncore
assets over the next year to 18 months, bringing in between $500
million and $1 billion in proceeds.
Shares of Alcoa rose 6% in after-hours trading but have fallen
28% so far this year through Wednesday.
Over a five-year period, Alcoa plans to consider a range of
further asset sales and closures of facilities, as well as
curtailing production at other sites. It said it would review 1.5
million metric tons of smelting capacity and 4 million metric tons
of alumina-refining capacity.
The company has been hurt by fears that a weaker global economy
will cut into demand for its products and crimp prices for metals.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said it expects growth
of 3% this year, lower than its forecast from July and off close to
1 percentage point compared with 2017.
Global demand for aluminum in 2019 will be weaker than Alcoa
previously expected, the company also said Wednesday. The aluminum
manufacturer now believes global aluminum demand will rise no more
than 0.4% this year but may fall as much as 0.6%. Earlier, it said
it believed demand for the metal would rise between 1.3% and 2.3%
this year.
"The change is driven by weakening macroeconomic conditions,
trade tensions between the U.S. and China, and contracting
manufacturing activity, especially in the global automotive
sector," the company said in a statement.
Quarterly revenue at Alcoa declined 24% from a year earlier to
$2.57 billion as aluminum prices declined. Its average selling
price of $2,138 a metric ton for aluminum in the latest quarter was
down 13% compared with the year-ago period.
Alcoa reported a quarterly loss of $221 million, or $1.19 a
share, wider than the loss of $6 million, or 3 cents a share, the
company recorded in the year-ago period. After adjustments, the
company reported a loss of 44 cents a share, worse than what
analysts polled by FactSet expected.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2019 18:01 ET (22:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alcoa (NYSE:AA)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024
Alcoa (NYSE:AA)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024