Alcoa reports Q1 performance the best in 4 years

The American industrial corporation and one of the global leading aluminium producer, Alcoa,  has reported its best first-quarter performance in four years as demand heightened at the beginning of 2021.

Wall Street prediction for Alcoa was averagely around $450.8 million, but the country’s largest metal producer holding consumers in beverage cans and vehicle production segment has toppled the forecast and posted earnings of $521 million.

Per-share earnings also rose to $0.79 from a loss of $0.23 per share in the same quarter a year ago, on revenues of $2.9 billion.

As the production in the automotive and aerospace industries enhances, the global demand for the metal has observed a steady rise from the COVID-19 strike downfall seen in 2020.

Roy Harvey, President and CEO of Alcoa said: “We had an excellent first quarter with our best quarterly result since a record-setting year in 2018.”

“We’ve proven we can operate during uncertain times, and we’re well-positioned for the future”, he added.

The company stated that it minimized its debt obligation by 47%, lowering net debt to $492 million from $935 million in Q4. However, it achieved this by using the cash generated from low coupon bonds to pay off higher interest rate notes.

The company also commented that it foresees a potential 2021 as the economy rebounds. Forecasting that demand for aluminium would upswing in all its end markets, it envisioned double-digit growth for its alumina division.