Romania's Alro nine-month net profit down 22 pct y/y

* 9-mth net profit 292.8 mln lei * Within the range expected by the market * Alro shares closed at 2.9 lei on Thursday. BUCHAREST, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Romania's Alro Slatina ALRO.BX, one of Europe's largest aluminium smelters, said on Friday its net profit fell 22 percent in the first nine months of this year. Alro, majority owned by Netherlands-based Vimetco (VICOq.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said its net profit was 292.8 million lei ($98.2 mln), compared with 376 million lei in the same period of last year. Analyst forecasts obtained by Reuters ranged from 260 million lei to 340 million lei. Total revenues totalled 1.74 billion lei, company data published on the Bucharest bourse's website showed. Vimetco has said it may cut production in Romania by as much as 65,000 tonnes a year in 2009 in response to falling metal prices MAL3 but said it remains confident that the aluminium price will recover during next year.