Alcoa Lost More Than $1 Billion In Fourth Quarter

Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. lost $1.19 billion ($1.49 per share) during the fourth quarter thanks to declining global demand the company reported moments ago, a loss that Wall Street had been bracing for all day.

The news kicks off what most are expecting to be a dismal earnings season.

Alcoa made $632 million (75 cents) in the fourth quarter of last year.

Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 6.6 percent to $5.7 billion in the quarter.

The disastrous quarter pushed Alcoa to 2008 loss of $74 million. In 2007, the company reported earnings of $2.6 billion.

Last week, Alcoa -- the nation's largest and world's third-largest aluminum-maker, said it would let go more than 15,000 employees and cut operations by 18 percent to bring production and costs more in-line with shrinking demand.

-- Frank Ahrens
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