Kaiser Aluminum Corp. is back.
Shares of the aluminum products maker started trading on Friday after more than four years under the watch of bankruptcy court.
Kaiser shares were down about 7% to $41.82 in afternoon trading Friday. The Foothill Ranch-based company’s market value is $840 million. It’s trading on Nasdaq under the KALU symbol.
Chief Executive Jack Hockema is sounding more like an executive and less like a turnaround man. He’s talking up his new markets, an expanding production facility,and even acquisitions.
Getting through bankruptcy is a big step for Kaiser, which ranks among Orange County’s larger companies with yearly sales of $1 billion.
But Hockema said he’s not dwelling on the milestone.
“We may take 30 seconds and say, ‘Isn’t this great?’ and then move on,” he said just before the company emerged from bankruptcy.
Kaiser moved its headquarters from Houston to Foothill Ranch last year. Laguna Niguel already was home to Kaiser’s fabricated products division.
Hockema, who became Kaiser’s chief executive around the time of the bankruptcy in 2002, led the Laguna Niguel division and opted to move the company here.
Kaiser has had to slim down to get out of bankruptcy, and to compete again. Back in 2000, the company did about $2.2 billion in yearly sales.
In the first quarter, Kaiser’s net income rose 360% from a year earlier to $38.4 million. Revenue grew nearly 20% to $336 million.
For more on this story, see the July 10 issue of the Business Journal.
