View or download this news release as a PDF (81.1K)
Westmoreland Coal Company (NasdaqGM:WLB) today reported its first quarter results for 2012.
Highlights:
- Adjusted EBITDA increased $2.7 million (11.6%) during Q1 2012 to $26.0 million as compared to $23.3 million in Q1 2011.
- Operating Income increased $0.3 million (4.1%) during Q1 2012 to $7.7 million as compared to $7.4 million in Q1 2011.
- Total revenues were $145.9 million for Q1 2012 compared to $127.8 million in Q1 2011, an increase of 14.2%.
- Net loss applicable to common shareholders of $0.8 million ($0.06 per basic and diluted share) for Q1 2012 compared to a Q1 2011 net loss of $18.0 million ($1.45 per basic and diluted share). Q1 2011 net loss included $20.2 million of charges related to the refinancing of debt.
- Westmoreland again continued its strong safety performance achieving reportable and lost time incident rates approximately 85.8% and 76.4%, respectively, of the national averages for surface operations for the first quarter of 2012.
- During the first quarter of 2012, Westmoreland’s Jewett Mine was selected as the winner of the Texas 2012 reclamation award by the Railroad Commission of Texas’ Surface Mining and Reclamation Division for its “Jewett Mine Stream Restoration Initiative.”
“We successfully completed the acquisition of the Kemmerer Mine on January 31and its two month performance is included in our first quarter results” said Keith E. Alessi, Westmoreland’s Chief Executive Officer. “The Kemmerer integration has gone very smoothly and the mine’s financial performance during the quarter exceeded our internal projections as a result of stronger than projected sales, productivity gains and cost management. We are still working through the process of valuing the Kemmerer assets and recording the final purchase accounting for the transaction.”
“We were pleased with our overall results, particularly in light of the extremely mild winter conditions experienced throughout the service areas of our customers. I consider this to be continuing validation of our business model, which is largely focused on long term, cost plus contracts. Our model provides for downside protection in quarters, such as this, in which we experience reduced tonnage. We remain focused on managing our balance sheet and finished the quarter in one of the most liquid positions we have experienced in many years as a result of these efforts, and the recent financing associated with the Kemmerer acquisition. During the quarter, we also welcomed Bob King to the company as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Bob’s deep industry experience will be invaluable to us as we explore ways to become more efficient and to grow the business.”
“A number of normally scheduled maintenance shutdowns are planned during the second quarter at our ROVA power plant and at customer facilities. These have been factored into our internal projections and we would expect to see our lowest quarterly operating results during this upcoming period. We expect to see further efficiencies from the Kemmerer acquisition as we continue our integration efforts and we continue to see the results of strong cost containment initiatives in all areas of our business.”
“I am very proud of the Jewett Mine’s 2012 reclamation award that it received this quarter. The Jewett team’s efforts underscore our core commitment to environment stewardship. We also had another quarter in which we recorded a very good safety record.”