Alcoa unveils plan to cut dividend, slash costs

Aluminum producer Alcoa [parent company of Kawneer NA, Norcross, Ga.]said Monday it plans to slash its quarterly dividend by 82 percentand sell $1.1 billion worth of shares to bulk up its cash cushion amid the recession.

The Pittsburgh-based company also said it plans to cut costs by more than $2.4 billion annually by 2010. Alcoa said its actions will reduce capital spending by an additional $1 billion in 2010.

The announcement, made after the market closed Monday, follows news in January that Alcoa plans to lay off about 13 percentof its global work force by the end of 2009, further cut production and spending, and sell four of its subsidiaries, according to a March 16 AP report in USA Today.

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