Century Aluminum Profit In Line With Estimates, Sales Beats

(RTTNews) - Century Aluminum Co (CENX) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $61.8 million or $0.63 per share compared with a loss of $9.7 million or $0.11 per share last year.

Results for the latest quarter included a purchase accounting gain of $0.07 per share, offset by $0.05 per share in non-cash pension charges and by $0.03 per share of employee separation charges.

Revenues for the quarter were higher at $551.2 million compared with $401.2 million in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.64 per share on revenues of $512 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Shipments of primary aluminum for the quarter were 226,082 tonnes compared with 216,755 tonnes a year ago, the company said.

The global macro environment continues to be buffeted by volatile and unpredictable forces and the uncertain pace of near-term economic activity in China continues to provide an overhang, said CEO Michael Bless.

"All this said, trading conditions in our markets remain reasonably attractive. The fundamentals that should drive market conditions over the long-term, most specifically an attractive demand growth profile, remain firmly in place," Bless said.