Alcoa, one of the world’s largest aluminium companies, has highlighted the impact of the European debt crisis on corporate profits, reporting its first quarterly loss on an underlying basis since 2009 and announcing plant closures and cutbacks in Italy and Spain, reports the FT. It also warned that the outlook for Europe “remains soft”. Opening the earnings season for US companies, Alcoa reported a $239m pre-tax loss for the fourth quarter, compared with a $348m profit for the equivalent period of 2010, as revenues were squeezed by falling aluminium prices. The loss included a $159m restructuring charge for the cost of shutting down 12 per cent of worldwide smelting capacity either permanently or temporarily, a move announced last week as part of the company’s drive to cut costs.

This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 4:46 and is featured in The 6am Cut London (10 Jan 2012), The Lunch Wrap (10 Jan 2012) . Tagged with alcoa, aluminium. Edit this entry.