Demand for aluminum blew past expectations as the auto and air industries continued to rebound.

 

Net income sharply beat estimates at $105 million, or $0.10 per share, when excluding one time charges. Wall Street had expected the metals firm to announce a loss of $0.04 per share.

Revenue also topped expectations, up nine percent year-on-year to $6.0 billion even as realized aluminum prices declined.

“Performance rebounded strongly this quarter due to our proactive cash sustainability actions, our relentless focus on profitable growth, and stabilizing markets,” Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said.

Growth at the company was driven by a surge in its Engineered Products and Solutions unit, which jumped 11 percent. Process improvements contributed to that gain, and Alcoa expected to see further market share gains in the second quarter.

The company reaffirmed its demand projections for 2012, seeing aluminum growth of 7 percent, even as it said growth in the aerospace industry would outpace previous estimates.