Teck announces 2016 second quarter profit

Reducing costs while maintaining production volumes enables Teck Resources to see a profit.

by Keith Powell — August 19, 2016

Picture of huge shovel on mining equipment.

Teck Resources Limited reported profit attributable to shareholders of $15 million ($0.03 per share) compared with $63 million ($0.11 per share) a year ago. Adjusted profit attributable to shareholders was $3 million, or $0.01 per share, compared with $79 million, or $0.14 per share in 2015.

“While the commodity cycle continues to be challenging, we are starting to see some positive changes in the direction of zinc and steelmaking coal prices,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO. “We are pleased with the performance of our operations, which have continued to reduce costs while maintaining production volumes. In addition, through recent transactions, we now have no substantial bond maturities for five years.”

Highlights and Significant Items

Profit attributable to shareholders was $15 million and EBITDA was $468 million in the second quarter of 2016 compared with $63 million and $596 million, respectively, in the second quarter of 2015.
Gross profit before depreciation and amortization was $536 million in the second quarter compared with $676 million in the second quarter of 2015.
Cash flow from operations was $339 million in the second quarter of 2016 compared with $335 million a year ago.
We extended the maturity of US$1.0 billion of our US$1.2 billion revolving credit facility by two years, from June 2017 to June 2019. We also issued US$1.25 billion of five and eight-year senior unsecured notes maturing in 2021 and 2024, using the proceeds to buy back notes maturing in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Our liquidity remains strong at $5.4 billion inclusive of $1.4 billion in cash at July 27, 2016 and US$3.0 billion of undrawn, committed credit facilities. Our cash balance is in line with expectations and, given current prices and exchange rates, we anticipate that we will exceed our original goal and end the year with more than $700 million.
We continue to achieve significant reductions of our cash unit costs at our operations. Steelmaking coal unit costs, including transportation charges, decreased to CAD$76 (US$59) per tonne in the second quarter compared with CAD$83 (US$68) per tonne a year ago, while copper cash unit costs after by-product credits declined to US$1.34 per pound from US$1.49 per pound from a year ago.
We have reached agreements with the majority of our steelmaking coal customers for the third quarter of 2016, based on a quarterly benchmark of US$92.50 per tonne for the highest quality product, and we expect total sales in the third quarter, including spot sales, to be at least 6.8 million tonnes of steelmaking coal. We expect our realized price as compared to the current quarterly benchmark to be consistent with the typical range we normally achieve.
Construction of the Fort Hills oil sands project has surpassed 60% completion.
In early July we acquired the 2.5% minority interest stake in our Highland Valley Copper mine for $33 million. We now have a 100% interest in the mine.
We were named to the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada ranking for the fourth consecutive year by media and investment research company Corporate Knights. The Best 50 ranks companies based on 12 sustainability metrics, including carbon productivity, gender leadership diversity, health and safety performance and pension fund quality.
We have updated our production and cash unit cost guidance for 2016 as a result of our strong first-half performance.
Steelmaking coal production is now expected to be 1.0 million tonnes higher and in the range of 26 to 27 million tonnes.
Copper production is now revised to 310,000 to 320,000 tonnes.
Mined zinc production is now revised to 645,000 to 665,000 tonnes, including co-product zinc production from our copper business unit.
Cost of sales at our steelmaking coal operations are expected to be $42 to $46 per tonne, down from $45 to $49 per tonne.
Copper unit costs after by-product credits are expected to be US$1.40 to US$1.50 per pound, down from US$1.50 to US$1.60 per pound.