Aluminum rolled products company Novelis trims Q3 loss to US$12 million

ATLANTA - Aluminum company Novelis Inc. trimmed its net loss to US$12 million during its fiscal third quarter despite a four per cent decrease in revenues to US$2.5 billion.

The world's largest aluminum rolled products company, spun off from former Canadian aluminum giant Alcan in 2005, said Wednesday that the loss was down from $46 million a year ago when it took large restructuring and other one-time charges.

The Altanta-based subsidiary of Asian aluminum and copper producer Hindalco Industries Ltd., which reports in U.S. dollars, said its adjusted pre-tax operating income (EBITDA) decreased $25 million to $213 million.

Chief executive Phil Martens said the results were good considering the market pressures faced during the seasonally low quarter, especially in Europe.

Revenues fell from $2.56 million last year because of lower shipped volumes and average aluminum prices.

Shipments of aluminum rolled products decreased 9.3 per cent to 648 kilotonnes, from 715 kilotonnes in the year-ago period.

Novelis said the decrease in shipments was primarily a result of customer destocking in Europe due to economic uncertainty and continued weakness in the company's electronics business in Asia.

It revised its adjusted EBITDA guidance for the fiscal year down slightly to between $1.05 billion and $1.08 billion.

The target of free cash flow before capital expenditures was maintained at $600 million to $700 million with up to $600 million of capital expenditures primarily focused global expansion projects in Brazil, Korea and North America.

"Despite the softness we saw in the third quarter, we still believe in the strong long-term growth of the aluminum flat rolled products market which is expected to grow 34 per cent over the next five years," said Martens.

The aluminum rolled products and can recycling company has nearly 11,000 employees in 11 countries.