UC RUSAL Q2 profit down 55 pct, misses forecasts

HONG KONG Nov 12 （Reuters） - Russia's United Company RUSAL （0486.HK: Quote）, the world's top aluminium maker, said on Friday its profit fell 55 percent in the third quarter, coming in well below forecasts and down sharply from the previous quarter, on lower sales and writeoffs.

RUSAL （RUAL.PA: Quote）, which listed in Hong Kong in January, posted a net profit of $29 million for the three months ended September, lagging an average forecast of $318 million from eight analysts polled by Reuters.

This compared with a profit of $1.02 billion in the second quarter and a profit of $64 million for the third quarter of 2009, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

RUSAL performed a bit better than Chinese rival, Aluminum Corp of China （2600.HK: Quote） （601600.SS: Quote）, which reported a third quarter loss last month on a supply glut。

Shares of RUSAL have risen by nearly 50 percent since July to close at HK$10.50 on Thursday, partly due to a move by the Hong Kong Stock exchange that allowed more retail investors to trade in its shares. But they were still slightly below their initial public offering price of HK$10.8 in Jaunary. They hit a low of HK$6.72 in late June on concerns over its heavy debt position. （Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Ken Wills）