Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) released preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2024 today. While the company expects to report a profit, several factors impacted performance below initial expectations.
Financial Highlights (Estimates):
- Revenue: $980 million
- Income from continuing operations, net of income taxes: $45 million
- Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization): $160 million
Segment Performance:
- Seaborne thermal coal shipments (including exports) met expectations at 4.0 million tons.
- Seaborne metallurgical coal shipments reached 1.4 million tons.
- U.S. thermal segments underperformed, with PRB (Powder River Basin) and Other U.S. thermal segments shipping 18.7 million tons and 3.2 million tons respectively, lower than anticipated.
Factors Affecting Results:
- Unfavorable seaborne thermal coal mix due to:
- Lower production at Wambo mine caused by an extended longwall ramp-up.
- Offset by additional production of lower quality coal at Wilpinjong mine.
- Lower average realized prices in the seaborne metallurgical coal segment due to:
- Prices of high-volatile A (HVA) and PCI coals being significantly lower than premium hard coking coal (HCC) prices.
- Mining of lower quality coal at the Metropolitan Joint Venture (CMJV).
- Higher than anticipated costs at the CMJV due to:
- An unplanned dragline outage.
- Accelerated repairs to the coal prep plant.
- Lower U.S. thermal volumes caused by:
- Unseasonably warm weather.
- Continued low natural gas prices.
- A non-cash remeasurement of Australian dollar denominated monetary assets (approximately $18 million).
Looking Ahead:
Despite the challenges, Peabody remains optimistic. CEO Jim Grech stated that the production issues at CMJV and Wambo have been resolved. He highlighted Shoal Creek Mine exceeding production expectations as the company enters the second quarter.
Investor Call:
Peabody will officially announce its first-quarter results on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, at 10:00 am CT. An investor conference call will be held after the announcement, with details available on the Peabody Energy website (PeabodyEnergy.com).
Additional Information:
- The press release defines Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure used by Peabody to assess segment operating performance.
- A reconciliation table is included, explaining the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA from estimated income from continuing operations.
Overall, Peabody’s preliminary results for the first quarter of 2024 show a profitable operation despite encountering production and pricing challenges.
Source: https://www.peabodyenergy.com/
Written by Coalnewswire, AI generated
