Aluminum giant Alcoa reported a quarterly loss on Monday steeper than expected in the face of “historic decline” in prices and big restructuring charges, in a bleak opening for the US earnings season.
Alcoa, which last week announced massive job cuts and other cost-cutting moves, said its net loss for the past quarter was US$1.19 billion including hefty reorganization charges.
That amounted to a loss of US$1.49 per share, or US$0.28 per share excluding one-time items, worse than the average Wall Street estimate of a loss of US$0.10 per share on that basis.
REVENUE
Alcoa, which is traditionally the first of the blue-chip companies to report quarterly results, said that revenues fell 18 percent in the quarter to US$5.7 billion.
For all of last year, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, company swung to a loss of US$74 million from a 2007 profit of US$2.56 billion, as revenues fell 8.1 percent to US$26.9 billion.
Alcoa said results “were driven by a 35 percent decline in aluminum prices in the quarter,” including a 56 percent decline from July and a sharp drop in demand from the automotive, commercial transportation, building and construction sectors.
“We are taking wide-ranging measures to address the economic downturn,” said Klaus Kleinfeld, president and chief executive of Alcoa.
“We have streamlined our portfolio to focus on businesses where Alcoa is the recognized leader, curtailed production to adjust to weakened demand, reduced global headcount, and achieved significant savings in key raw materials,” Kleinfeld said.
“By moving quickly to address the market decline, we are using Alcoa’s strategic flexibility and solid liquidity to address the continuing economic uncertainty and emerge even stronger when the economy recovers,” he said.
LAYOFFS
Alcoa said last week it would slash some 13,500 jobs, or 13 percent, of its global workforce and reduce output to cope with the global economic downturn. Alcoa also said it was implementing a freeze on hiring and salaries.
Some analysts have said financial markets are not prepared for the sharp falloff in corporate results stemming from the global economic crisis.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
RSS