VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 21, 2015) - Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) ("Teck") reported first quarter adjusted profit attributable to shareholders of $64 million, or $0.11 per share, compared with $105 million or $0.18 per share in 2014. Profit attributable to shareholders was $68 million ($0.12 per share) compared with $69 million ($0.12 per share) a year ago.
"Our ongoing focus on cost management and operational performance, aided by the strong U.S. dollar, is enabling our diversified business to withstand the generally weak commodity price environment, allowing all of our operations to generate positive operating cash flows after our sustaining capital spending," said Don Lindsay, President and CEO.
Highlights and Significant Items
-- Profit attributable to shareholders was $68 million and EBITDA was $546
million in the first quarter.
-- Gross profit before depreciation and amortization was $685 million in
the first quarter compared with $734 million in the first quarter of
2014.
-- Cash flow from operations, before working capital changes, was $510
million in the first quarter of 2015 compared with $470 million a year
ago.
-- We achieved record first quarter coal sales and production of 6.8
million tonnes.
-- We have reached agreements with our customers to sell 5.5 million tonnes
of coal in the second quarter of 2015 based on US$109.50 per tonne for
the highest quality product and we expect total sales in the second
quarter, including spot sales, to be around 6.0 million tonnes.
-- All critical milestones are being achieved on the Fort Hills oil sands
project. The partners are focused on capital discipline and are working
with our contractors to take advantage of the current economic
environment. In April we completed the earn-in portion of project
funding with our share of capital expenditures lowering to 20% from the
earn-in rate of 27.5%.
-- A falling Canadian dollar, lower oil prices and our cost reduction
program have contributed to lower our U.S. dollar unit costs for our
products with copper and coal unit costs falling by US$0.09 per pound
and US$18 per tonne, respectively, compared to last year.
-- First quarter production at our Pend Oreille zinc mine, which restarted
in December 2014, was 6,000 tonnes and we expect to reach the full
production rate of 44,000 tonnes per year in the second quarter of 2015.
-- Our liquidity remains strong with a cash balance of $1.4 billion at
April 20, 2015 and US$3.0 billion available under our revolving credit
facility, which matures in 2019. Our cash balance is in line with our
expectations at this point in the year and consistent with our goal of
finishing the year with at least $1.0 billion in cash at existing debt
levels.