Alcoa Inc., the 128-year-old aluminum producer that’s splitting into two companies next month, reported third-quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ profit estimates as sales in its components business declined.
Profit excluding one-time items was 32 cents a share, missing the 34-cent average of 13 estimates tracked by Bloomberg. Third-quarter net income was 33 cents, New York-based Alcoa said Tuesday in a statement. Sales fell to $5.2 billion from $5.57 billion, less than the $5.33 billion average estimate.
Shares fell 6.2 percent to $29.55 before the start of regular trading Tuesday.
The quarterly results are the last before Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld unchains the company’s legacy metal-producing businesses from its value-added parts operations. Investors have cheered the split, scheduled for Nov. 1, as Kleinfeld chases earnings growth in downstream markets after years of low prices and cutbacks in mining and smelting.
The value-added component operations will go by the name Arconic Inc., to be headed by Kleinfeld, while the upstream company will be called Alcoa Corp., and will be led by Roy Harvey. Alcoa is scheduled to hold a conference call with analysts at 8:30 a.m. in New York.
A 1 percent decline in sales from the Arconic segments “reflects customer adjustments to delivery schedules in the aerospace industry, softness in the North America commercial transportation and pricing pressures, partially offset by strong North America automotive volume.”
The company decreased its global aluminum deficit to 615,000 metric tons, down from a 775,000 ton deficit projection in the previous quarter. While it maintained outlook of 5 percent demand growth this year, it said supply would grow 3 percent globally, up from a previous 2.5 percent forecast.
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