Alcoa Misses as Aluminum Prices Slide

Alcoa Inc reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by a slide in aluminum prices that has prompted the company to separate the smelting operations from the faster-growing plane and car parts business.

Alcoa's shares fell 4.3 percent in extended trading.

Benchmark London Metal Exchange prices fell to six-year lows towards the end of September, a nearly 20 percent drop from a year earlier.

Net income attributable to Alcoa fell to $44 million, or 2 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $149 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, Alcoa earned 7 cents per share.

Sales fell 10.7 percent to $5.57 billion.

Analysts on average had expected Alcoa to earn 13 cents per share on sales of $5.65 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Sneha Banerjee and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)