Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria. Image: Alcoa
Closing its acquisition of Alumina Limited in August will be a key metric for Alcoa as it looks to finish off the remaining half of 2024.
The Australian Foreign Investment board approved Aloca’s acquisition of Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) on June 13. The major is expecting the transaction to be completed on August 1, subject to shareholder approval.
Other highlights from the quarter included a net income of $5–$25 million, an increase driver by the non-recurrence of a charge of $197 million recorded in the first quarter of the year.
Alcoa’s cash balance is expected to approximately $1.4 billion at June 30, a number consistent with the prior quarter.
While Alcoa experienced a five per cent decrease in alumina production and shipments, Alcoa president and chief executive officer William Oplinger is remaining optimistic.
“We had strong preliminary results for the second quarter of 2024 which reflect market improvements,” Oplinger said. “We are looking forward to closing the acquisition of Alumina Limited on or about August 1, 2024.”
Revenue is also expected to increase for the second quarter, ranging from $2.8–$2.9 million. Alcoa is attributing this increase to higher average realised third-party prices for alumina and aluminium.
The increases follow Alcoa’s strong first quarter results, when the company produced 542,000 tonnes of aluminium, in line with its strong results from the fourth quarter of 2023.
“In the first quarter of 2024, we finalised the terms of our acquisition of Alumina Limited, which will bring strategic, operational, and financial flexibility,” Oplinger said at the time.
“Raw material prices and markets are improving, and we are implementing near-term improvements to further strengthen Alcoa for the future.”
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