Alcoa profit gains on stake sale, price rise

Alcoa Inc. on Tuesday said third-quarter profit increased 3.4% because of gains from the sale of its stake in Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. and higher metal prices. Alcoa said it might spend about $6.9 billion to buy back more shares.

Net income rose to $555 million, or 63 cents a share, from $537 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, New York-based Alcoa said. Sales fell about 3.2% to $7.39 billion. Profit excluding certain items trailed analysts’ estimates by 1 cent.

A gain of about $1.73 billion from the sale of a 7% stake in Aluminum Corp. compensated for charges related to the sale of a unit, a restructuring and a hurricane that reduced production in Jamaica. Aluminum prices averaged about $2,610 a metric ton in the third quarter, 3.2% higher than a year earlier.

Alcoa said it planned to spend as much as $6.9 billion to increase its share buyback program to 25% of the stock outstanding from 10%. The company said it might buy an additional 174 million shares.