API Ponders Sale Of House Outlets Drug distributor and health and beauty products retailer Australian Pharmaceutical Industries considers selling its Price Attack and House brands.... Read Full Article India’s Economic Boom Transforms Stock Trading Into A National Pastime India’s markets are on a roll, as an expanding middle class banks on corporate growth. But bears have begun talk of a bubble.... Read Full Article The Empire Zone: Firing Off Another Round Over Health Care Budget Cuts The Rev. Al Sharpton assails Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed health care budget cuts in a new radio advertisement and mailings that will be aimed at New York City residents.... Read Full Article Waken The Dragon Despite last week’s market correction, Napoleon had it right: ’China is a sleeping giant. When she wakes, the world will tremble.’... Read Full Article Banking Regulators To Increase Scrutiny Of Subprime Lenders A pilot program by the Federal Reserve and state banking regulators will examine firms that account for the majority of subprime loans.... Read Full Article |
Profits Soar At Alcoa On Strong Demand And Higher PricesThe aluminum company Alcoa reported its most profitable first quarter ever yesterday as rising metal demand from China and the aerospace industry bolstered prices. Net income rose 8.9 percent, to $662 million, or 75 cents a share, from $608 million, or 69 cents, in the period a year earlier. Sales rose 11 percent, to $7.91 billion. The company, which has its headquarters in New York, is the first on the Dow Jones industrial average to report earnings this quarter. Aluminum prices rose 15 percent in the quarter and have more than doubled in the last five years. Citigroup says global demand may exceed supply this year. The market environment is fundamentally very good, Charles A. Bradford, an analyst at Soleil Securities in New York, said before the earnings were released. Aerospace executives are pleading with the aluminum companies to boost output, and world economies, especially China, are doing well. Excluding revamping costs and a loss of 2 cents a share from discontinued businesses, profit was 79 cents a share. That beat the 78-cent estimate of analysts. The company sold metal at $2,902 a metric ton, on average, in the quarter, compared with $2,534 a ton a year earlier. Metal production rose to 899,000 tons, from 867,000 tons, while shipments rose to 518,000 tons, from 488,000 tons. Total aluminum product shipments rose 1 percent, to 1.37 million tons. Shares of Alcoa were the best performers on the Dow during the quarter, rising 13 percent. Part of the rally reflected speculation that the company would be a takeover target. Alcoa, which rose 3 cents, to $34.90, in regular trading, gained as much as 85 cents in after-hours trading. The earnings were released after the market closed. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationG.M. Workers Begin Walkout Over Contract Impasse...World Business Briefing | Asia: Japan: Inflation Slowed as Spending Climbed... Quarter’s Weak Growth Adds to Signs of Slowdown... Prices Held Steady in February... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Profits Soar At Alcoa On Strong Demand And Higher Prices |
i8news.com |