Plant Closings Cited as Alcoa Posts Loss

Pittsburgh-based Aluminum Co. of America, the world’s largest aluminum producer, reported Tuesday that it lost $16.6 million during 1985, largely due to special charges stemming from plant closings. The company had net earnings of $256 million in 1984.

Alcoa said it had a $121-million loss in its fourth quarter, compared to a $14.7-million loss in the same period a year earlier.

During 1985, the company took charges totaling nearly $157 million--with $145 million coming in the fourth quarter. The charges stemmed from plans to permanently close idled plants representing a quarter of Alcoa’s production capacity and the writing down of Venezuelan investments because of a devaluation of that nation’s currency.

Alcoa said it gained $30.4 million during the year from the sale of a Canadian power subsidiary.

Revenue in the fourth quarter fell to $1.21 billion from $1.39 billion a year earlier, while revenue for all of 1985 dropped to $5.16 billion from a record $5.75 billion in 1984.

Alcoa said it shipped 418,000 metric tons of aluminum products in the quarter, compared to 492,000 tons a year ago. In all of 1985, the company shipped 1.7 million tons, compared to 1.8 million tons a year ago.