PITTSBURGH – Shares of Alcoa Inc. (AA) rose Friday after the aluminum producer reported its highest quarterly income and revenue in company history, with sales growth driven by higher volumes and the acquisition of fabricating facilities in Russia.
The Pittsburgh-based company's stock rose $1.11, or 4.2 percent, to close at $27.20 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange (search). The stock had hit a 52-week low of $25.55 on Thursday.
After financial markets closed Thursday, Alcoa said its second-quarter profit rose 14 percent to $460 million, or 52 cents per share, from $404 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same period last year. Results were boosted by its sale of an interest in a Norwegian metals business and tax benefits.
Excluding restructuring charges, the sale of the Norwegian metals company Elkem (search), tax benefits and other items, Alcoa said it would have earned 44 cents per share, or 46 cents per share from continuing operations.
Second-quarter sales rose 13 percent to $6.76 billion from $5.97 billion a year earlier.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 45 cents per share on sales of $6.64 billion for the April-June period.
"We delivered strong results and took necessary steps to restructure, control costs and lay the framework for solid performance over the long term," Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Belda said.
Although sales were helped by the acquisition of facilities in Russia, Alcoa also recorded $29 million in losses from the integration of the new Russian facilities, due to integration costs, market softness and the costs of initiatives to shift to higher value-added products.
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