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Westmoreland Coal Company (NasdaqGM:WLB) today reported its third quarter results for 2012, as well as a transition plan for Westmoreland’s senior leadership.
Highlights:
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 46.7% or $11.3 million during Q3 2012 to $35.5 million as compared to $24.2 million in Q3 2011. Year to date 2012 Adjusted EBITDA was $77.4 million, an increase of $15.7 million or 25.4% over 2011 year to date Adjusted EBITDA of $61.7 million.
- Total revenues were $161.3 million for Q3 2012 compared to $132.4 million in Q3 2011, an increase of 21.8%.
- Net income applicable to common shareholders of $7.3 million ($0.52 per basic and $0.50 per diluted share) for Q3 2012 compared to a Q3 2011 net income of $2.4 million ($0.18 per basic and diluted share). Year to date net loss for 2012 was $4.6 million compared to a year to date net loss for 2011 of $23.3 million. The 2011 net loss includes $20.2 million of charges related to the refinancing of debt.
- The company improved its liquidity position during the quarter, ending the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $53.7 million. It also had an additional $43.1 million available to it under existing lines of credit.
- Westmoreland continued its strong safety performance achieving reportable and lost time incident rates approximately 63.5% and 46.8%, respectively, of the national averages for surface operations year to date through the third quarter of 2012.
- Robert P. King, current President and Chief Operating Officer was appointed to the Board of Directors effective October 24, 2012.
- The company also announced that Keith E. Alessi, Westmoreland’s current Chief Executive Officer, will retire effective April 5, 2013 and will assume the position of Executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. King will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer on that date.
“This is a record quarter for the company as measured by Adjusted EBITDA,” said Keith E. Alessi, Westmoreland’s Chief Executive Officer. “The strong increases over prior year were largely driven by the operating results of the Kemmerer mine and the continuing execution of our low overhead, mine mouth model. To put the quarter in perspective, the financial results of this single quarter exceeded the financial results of the entire year of 2009. I feel that we demonstrated during 2010 and 2011 that we repaired the business and built a solid platform. Now, in 2012, I believe that we are showing that we can grow our business responsibly and profitably.”
“Year to date Adjusted EBITDA through the first three quarters exceeds the Adjusted EBITDA we generated during the entire year of 2011. This has allowed us to continue to deleverage the business and we ended the quarter in a highly liquid position”
“The Board of Directors and I have been preparing for a transition of the day-to-day leadership of the business for some time now. The hiring of Bob King earlier this year was an important step in this process. He has made a positive impact on our business and I am confident that his skills and deep industry experience will benefit the company as it continues to seek growth opportunities. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Bob in my role as Executive Chairman beginning in April 2013. I am also pleased that our current Chairman, Dick Klingaman, has agreed to transition to Lead Independent Director at the time I move to the Executive Chair role.”
Richard Klingaman, Chairman of the Board, stated, “I am thrilled that Keith has agreed to resume the role of Executive Chairman. The leadership team of Alessi and King brings experience, creativity, and drive to Westmoreland as it continues to pursue its strategic plan to create long term shareholder value.”