Kaiser Aluminum Posts 5th Straight Quarterly Loss

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical reported a loss for the third quarter--the fifth consecutive quarterly loss for the Oakland-based company.

Cornell C. Maier, chairman and chief executive, said increased fabricated aluminum sales--despite a decline in prices and lower production costs--helped to reduce the company’s pretax loss from a year ago.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Kaiser reported a net loss of $17.7 million, compared to last year’s $73.2-million loss.

This year’s deficit included a $3.5-million loss from the anticipated disposition of Kaiser Aluminum’s international trading business and a negative tax provision of $10.4 million.

Last year’s figure reflected a loss of $60.17 million from the disposition of its refractories and agricultural chemicals businesses and an aluminum extrusion plant.

A negative tax provision of $43.7 million was also included in last year’s quarterly figure.

Revenue in the third quarter totaled $526.4 million, down from last year’s $548.8 million.

For the first nine months, Kaiser had a net loss of $50.4 million, compared to a net loss of $26.1 million last year.

Revenue totaled $1.5 billion, down from $1.7 billion a year ago.