Copper market’s biggest whale fuels speculation of a major shift
The world’s single biggest buyer of copper, State Grid Corp. of China, has slowed its purchases of copper wire this year.
Oct 30 (Reuters) – U.S. specialty metals maker Arconic Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its full year earnings forecast, driven by higher demand for aluminum parts used in airplanes.
Shares of Arconic, which counts planemakers Boeing and Airbus as its customers, rose 2 percent to $19.60 in premarket trading.
Arconic has increased hiring and capital expenditure this year to meet higher demand for parts from planemakers as they ramp up production to satisfy growing global demand for air travel.
The company said it was extending the scope of its strategic review, announced earlier this year, to address “additional scenarios” beyond the planned sale of its building and construction systems unit, which makes facades, windows and framing products.
Arconic’s decision to extend its review comes as its board was reportedly mulling an $11 billion acquisition offer from buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC.
Arconic said on Tuesday it expects to complete the strategic review in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The company raised its 2018 adjusted earnings per share forecast to a range of $1.28 to $1.34, from between $1.17 and $1.27, previously.
Net income rose 35.3 percent to $161 million, or 32 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts’ average estimate of 30 cents, according to Refinitiv.
Sales rose about 9 percent to $3.52 billion and were above analysts’ consensus of $3.49 billion.
Up to Monday’s close, the stock had fallen 29.5 percent this year, underperforming a 1.2 percent decline in the S&P 500 index.
(By Ankit Ajmera; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
