Alcoa (AA) EVP & CFO on Aluminum Pricesβ Impact on Earnings
Alcoa's (AA) 1Q adjusted EPS came in at -$0.81 and revenue came in at $2.60B. EVP and CFO Molly Beerman joins Diane KingΒ ...
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Alcoa
Search every verified Molly Beerman interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Molly Beerman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alcoa, discussed the company's quarterly results and strategic initiatives in a September 2024 interview. She described the quarter as "action packed," citing three major initiatives: the announcement of Alcoa's acquisition of Alumina Limited, improvements in market demand recovery, and actions to improve the company's portfolio. Beerman stated that the acquisition would give Alcoa 100% control of the entity at a 13.1% premium for Alumina Limited shareholders, and that it would simplify the joint venture structure and accelerate decision-making. She also noted that Alcoa would gain full economic interest in five of the 20 largest bauxite mines and five of the 20 largest alumina refineries outside of China. Beerman reported that Alcoa was seeing raw material prices decline, particularly caustic soda, coke, and pitch, which had been high in 2022 and 2023. She said the company had locked in another quarter of savings and expected to exceed its goal of $310 million in year-over-year raw material improvements. Beerman also noted that Alcoa had introduced a competitiveness and productivity program with a goal of achieving $100 million in run rate savings by the first quarter of 2025, and that the program was on track. Regarding demand, she stated that Alcoa was seeing growth across the board in North America and Europe, with the exception of building and construction in Europe, which was down slightly. Beerman added that further interest rate cuts could help the building and construction markets, which were still facing high interest costs.
“It was an action packed quarter for Alcoa. We had three major initiatives in the quarter. The first was our announcement of our acquisition of Alumina Limited, our JV partner in the Alcoa world, Alumina and Chemicals. They have a 40% share, and we're buying the full ownership of that.”
“We outlined a goal to deliver year over year improvements of 310 million in raw materials. Fortunately we've locked in another quarter of savings and we're actually going to exceed that on a year over year basis in 2024 versus the 23 raw material performance.”
“We introduced a competitiveness and productivity program with a goal to achieve 100 million in run rate savings by the first quarter of 2025. That program is now deployed, and we're on track to deliver that.”
“Fortunately, we are seeing our raw material prices come down primarily in our aluminum business. Caustic soda and coke and pitch prices, which were extremely high at the end of 2022 and carried into 2023, have started to come down in the second half of 2023 and continue to decline.”
Alcoa's (AA) 1Q adjusted EPS came in at -$0.81 and revenue came in at $2.60B. EVP and CFO Molly Beerman joins Diane KingΒ ...
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