Alcoa Inc (AA) Plunges on Losses, Legal Settlements

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) kicked off the earnings season after the market close on Thursday with its fourth quarter and full year 2013 financial results. Investors were not happy with its performance as the stock price of the company plunged further to $10.22 per share, a decline of more than 4% in the extended hours trading.

Legal settlements

Prior to its earnings report, Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) announced that its subsidiary, Alcoa World Alumina (AWA) pleaded guilty to one count of violating the anti-bribery provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and agreed to pay a penalty of $223 million to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle the case. The agency did not file any charges against the aluminum giant related to the violation of its subsidiary.

With regard to the civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) in an administrative proceeding related to anti-bribery, internal controls, books and records provisions of the FCPA, the aluminum giant agreed to pay $175 million fine to settle the problem.

The announcement of the legal settlements, the stock price of Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) declined 1.29% to $10.69 per share after the closing bell.

Financial Results

During the fourth quarter of 2013, Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) recorded $2.3 billion net loss or $2.1 per share. Excluding special items, the aluminum giant said its net income was $40 million or $0.04 per share. Its revenue was $5.6 billion. The company ended the period with $498 million free cash flow.

Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO of Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) said, “We delivered strong operating performance in the fourth quarter, led by record downstream profitability… We put a number of legacy matters behind us, clearing a path for Alcoa’s continued transformation in 2014.”

“We started growing our value-add businesses and lowering the cost base of our commodity businesses at the height of the economic crisis. Today, this transformation is paying off, with the value-add businesses driving 57 percent of our revenues and 80 percent of our segment profits,” added Kleinfeld.

For the full year 2013, the company incurred $2.3 billion net loss or $2.14per share. Excluding special items, it net income was $357 million or $0.33 per share. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) generated $23 billion revenue and ended the year with $385 million free cash flow.