However, its shares in Hong Kong rose 3.5 percent after the results, which had largely been reflected in the stock’s weak performance this year, with investors betting on aluminum’s long-term growth story linked to demand from China.

RUSAL, which competes with US aluminum maker Alcoa, said it expects demand for aluminum to continue to strengthen because consumers are using more and the company has been able to raise its prices to pass along higher costs of raw materials, power and labor.

The company forecast London Metal Exchange aluminum prices would trade between $2,500-$2,600 per ton for the rest of 2011. LME aluminum rose 0.27 percent on Friday to $2,380 per ton.

RUSAL posted a net profit of $339 million for the three months ended June, compared with an average forecast of $470 million from eight analysts polled by Reuters.

That compared with profit of $1.12 billion for the same period a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Stripping away non-cash items, such as net effects from its share in the results of Norilsk Nickel, its adjusted net profit for the three-month period was $243 million, down 31 percent on the year.

A firmer rouble, the Russian currency, has been pressuring RUSAL’s margins and bottom line as its aluminum exports are typically denominated in US dollars.

Shares of RUSAL gave up some gains after rising as much as 4.5 percent in Hong Kong to a session high of HK$8.36 against a 1.3 percent gain on the Hang Seng Index. But they have lost about 30 percent so far this year compared with a 14 percent drop in the broader market.

“Though the results was disappointing, its long-term story is still intact, people are still betting on its outlook including China growth prospects,” said Alex Wong, a director at Ample Finance, which owns shares in RUSAL.

Wong said he would not adjust his portfolio for the time being due to recent encouraging signs such as the US durable goods orders.

Two RUSAL partners plan to sell their shares, according to a Russian media report last week, which analysts said could pressure the company to pay dividends in the second half.

RUSAL said it was unaware of any partners selling shares.

Restrictions under debt restructuring agreements limited its ability to pay dividends and therefore none were declared in the first half of 2011, the company said in the statement.

But it will be in a position to start paying dividends to shareholders following the completion of its debt refinancing plan later this year, the company’s deputy chief executive, Oleg Mukhamedshin, said.

The company said on Friday it had received an offer from Norilsk to buy back 15 percent of its stock for $8.75 billion.

Analysts said recently that they expect RUSAL, which has a 25 percent stake in Norilsk, to reject the offer.

This is Norilsk’s third attempt to repurchase the shares and resolve a long-running dispute between rival oligarchs Vladimir Potanin, whose Interros investment company holds about 30 percent of Norilsk, and Oleg Deripaska, who controls RUSAL.