NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. industrial bellwether Alcoa Inc. Monday beat forecasts with higher profits on lower revenues in the first quarter.
Alcoa's first-quarter profit was $149 million, or 13 cents a share, a 59 percent increase from the $94 million, or 9 cents a share from the year-ago period, MarketWatch reported. Revenues were $5.83 billion, down 2.9 percent.
Analysts had been expecting earnings of 8 cents a share on revenue of $5.88 billion.
"This was a strong quarter led by record profitability in our downstream business, improved results in our midstream business, and remarkable upstream performance in the face of weak metal prices," Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said.
Alcoa, the world's largest aluminum producer, has been hindered by a glut of the metal that has tempered prices.
