HONG KONG, March 11 - Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the world's No. 2 alumina maker, posted a 67 percent rise in 2006 earnings despite sliding prices for its main product in the second half of last year.
Chalco, also China's largest aluminium maker, reported a net profit of 11.745 billion yuan (US$1.52 billion) last year, versus 7.02 billion yuan in 2005.
That exceeded expectations of 11.4 billion yuan, according to the mean forecast of 19 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
Chalco has beefed up acquisitions overseas and merged aluminium makers at home on hopes of boosting production, especially in aluminium, to help mitigate the impact of lower alumina prices.
In November, it announced plans to take two Shanghai-listed aluminium units private in a collective deal that could be worth more than $1 billion.
The firm's shares rose 4 percent on Friday ahead of the earnings and have gained 11 percent this year, beating an 11 percent loss on the index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
But the stock lagged a 52 percent rally on the H-share index in the second half with a rise of about 25 percent. And it is cheaper at 7.9 times forward earnings than larger rival Alcan's 9.6 times and Alcoa's 10.5. ($1=7.743 Yuan)
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