Contura Announces Third Quarter 2020 Results

BRISTOL, Tenn., Nov. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Contura Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CTRA), a leading U.S. coal supplier, today reported results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2020.

"Our third quarter results continued to highlight the discipline and safe, strategic performance of our operations team as we achieved the lowest full-quarter CAPP - Met cost per ton performance since the formation of our company," said chairman and chief executive officer, David Stetson. "As we introduce 2021 guidance, we expect our costs to remain very competitive at our recent levels while we tackle the continued softness in the met coal market and the many uncertainties facing the global economies."

Financial Performance

Contura reported a net loss from continuing operations of $68.6 million, or $3.75 per diluted share, for the third quarter 2020. In the second quarter 2020, the company had a net loss from continuing operations of $238.3 million or $13.02 diluted share, which included a non-cash asset impairment charge of $161.7 million.

Total Adjusted EBITDA was $20 million for the third quarter, compared with $17 million in the second quarter, primarily due to improved margins in the CAPP - Thermal and CAPP - Met segments.

Coal Revenues

The CAPP - Met revenue decline in the third quarter was driven by an approximately $8 per ton decline in price realizations relative to the second quarter. CAPP - Thermal revenues increased due to higher realized prices. Third quarter NAPP revenues increased as a result of higher volumes, while prices were in line with the prior quarter.

Coal Sales Realization⁽¹⁾

Global metallurgical coal prices experienced continued softening in the quarter, which resulted in our average CAPP - Met coal sales realization declining 11 percent against the prior quarter to $73.79 per ton. While our 2020 domestic business continues to benefit from annual fixed price contracts, the lower third quarter realizations were primarily driven by our export business, where prices were soft during most of the quarter. The CAPP - Thermal segment experienced higher realization primarily due to improved customer mix.

Cost of Coal Sales

In the third quarter, the company reported its strongest full-quarter cost performance in the CAPP - Met segment since the company's 2016 formation, with CAPP - Met costs averaging $66.49 per ton in the third quarter. The second quarter cost of coal sales was $74.41 per ton, and excluding the impact of April furloughs, incremental one-time COVID-19 mitigation costs, and the partially offsetting benefit from an annual severance tax adjustment, the cost per ton was approximately $70 in the second quarter. The continued cost improvement trend that has been achieved in 2020 is driven by strong productivity growth, labor cost reductions instituted in the second quarter, and improved sourcing.

CAPP - Thermal also continued its impressive cost of coal sales performance, with third quarter cost of $45.98 per ton as compared to $45.38 for the prior quarter. NAPP cost of coal sales for the quarter was $35.03 per ton, up from $32.98 per ton in the second quarter.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and depreciation, depletion and amortization (DD&A) expenses

Contura's third quarter 2020 SG&A expenses were $13.5 million, excluding non-cash stock compensation expense and one-time expenses of $1.0 million, compared with $10.1 million in the prior quarter. 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

"We continue to closely manage our cash priorities as prolonged pandemic uncertainty has created additional softness in both end-markets and pricing for our products. As such, we expect fourth quarter capex to come in around $20 million, and we remain focused on continuing the outstanding execution on costs that has allowed us to weather adverse market circumstances," said Andy Eidson, Contura's chief financial officer. "We continue to expect to receive the accelerated AMT tax refund of $66 million in the near term. Furthermore, we have filed an NOL carryback in which we claimed approximately $70 million in additional tax refunds. The claim is subject to an IRS audit and we hope to finalize the audit during 2021. All of these items factor into the total liquidity picture for the company, and our philosophy remains one of strategic cash preservation as we close out an unprecedented year and issue guidance and expectations for 2021."

Cash used by operating activities for the third quarter 2020 was $5.9 million and capital expenditures for the third quarter were $27.8 million. In the prior period, the cash provided by operating activities was $79.0 million and capital expenditures were $41.5 million. Contura continues to anticipate that capital expenditures for the full year 2020 will be in the range of $135 million to $140 million, with 2021 capital expenditures expected to be materially lower in the range of $80 million to $100 million.

As of September 30, 2020, Contura had $161.4 million in unrestricted cash and $180.0 million in restricted cash, deposits and investments. Total long-term debt, including the current portion of long-term debt as of September 30, 2020, was $597.5 million, down approximately $31 million from the prior quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the company had total liquidity of $161.4 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $161.4 million and no remaining unused availability under the Asset-Based Revolving Credit Facility (ABL). The future available capacity under the ABL is subject to inventory and accounts receivable collateral requirements and the achievement of certain financial ratios. As of September 30, 2020, the company had $18.4 million in borrowings and $122.4 million in letters of credit outstanding under the Asset-Based Revolving Credit Facility. In October, subsequent to the quarter close, the company repaid $15.0 million of borrowed principal under the ABL.

2021 Full-Year Guidance

The company is introducing 2021 guidance with coal shipments guidance range of 20.4 million tons to 22.2 million tons, with CAPP - Met segment volume expected to be between 13.5 million to 14.5 million tons with pure metallurgical coal shipments of 12.5 million to 13.0 million tons and thermal shipments in this segment of 1.0 million to 1.5 million tons. CAPP - Thermal segment volume is anticipated to be between 1.3 million tons to 1.7 million tons. NAPP volumes are expected to be in the range of 5.6 million tons to 6.0 million tons.

For 2021, Contura has committed and priced approximately 34% of its metallurgical coal within the CAPP - Met segment at an average price of $86.41 per ton and 72% of thermal coal in the CAPP - Met segment at an average expected price of $52.11 per ton. In the CAPP - Thermal segment the company is 99% committed and priced at an average price of $57.17 per ton and 100% committed and priced for NAPP at an average price of $40.43 per ton.

The company expects our strong cost performance to continue in 2021 with CAPP - Met cost of coal sales per ton anticipated at a range of $68.00 to $74.00. CAPP - Thermal is expected to be in the range of $45.00 to $49.00 per ton and NAPP between $33.00 and $37.00 per ton.

For 2021, the company expects its SG&A to be in the range of $45 million to $50 million, excluding non-recurring items and stock compensation. In light of our decision to forgo certain capital expenditures for NAPP, our overall 2021 capital expenditures guidance at a range of $80 million to $100 million is near the maintenance capital level. Depreciation, depletion and amortization is expected to be between $160 million and $175 million and cash interest expense in the range of $51 million and $55 million.

Notes: 

1. Based on committed and priced coal shipments as of October 27, 2020. Committed percentage based on the midpoint of shipment guidance range.
2. Actual average per-ton realizations on committed and priced tons recognized in future periods may vary based on actual freight expense in future periods relative to assumed freight expense embedded in projected average per-ton realizations.
3. Includes estimates of future coal shipments based upon contract terms and anticipated delivery schedules. Actual coal shipments may vary from these estimates.
4. Note: The Company is unable to present a quantitative reconciliation of its forward-looking non-GAAP cost of coal sales per ton sold financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying with reasonable accuracy significant items required for the reconciliation. The most directly comparable GAAP measure, GAAP cost of sales, is not accessible without unreasonable efforts on a forward- looking basis. The reconciling items include freight and handling costs, which are a component of GAAP cost of sales. Management is unable to predict without unreasonable efforts freight and handling costs due to uncertainty as to the end market and FOB point for uncommitted sales volumes and the final shipping point for export shipments. These amounts have historically varied and may continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter and material changes to these items could have a significant effect on our future GAAP results.
5. Excludes expenses related to non-cash stock compensation and non-recurring business development expenses.

Operational and Strategic Update

With regard to the Cumberland Mine in Pennsylvania, the company is in active negotiations for the divestiture of the Cumberland property with a potential purchaser. No definitive agreement has been reached at this time, and there can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these negotiations or as to the terms, timing or approval of any such transaction that may be proposed. More information will be announced if an agreement is reached.

Contura has made significant progress in streamlining the enterprise portfolio and incrementally adjusting toward a simplified, more efficient group of mines and plants to better serve the production and sales needs of the company. "Through strategic decisions to idle certain thermal properties in the organization, and by carefully planning how and when to mine out of properties as they come to the end of their expected tenures, we have meaningfully improved both costs and operational efficiencies this year," said Jason Whitehead, Contura's chief operating officer. "As mines have come offline, we have been able to realign coal processing into fewer plants, redeploy equipment to other locations across the company, and plan for the best utilization of the newer, high-quality mines in our portfolio. We expect to continue building on this success through the fourth quarter and into 2021."

Conference Call

The company plans to hold a conference call regarding its third quarter 2020 results on November 9, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. The conference call will be available live on the investor section of the company's website at https://investors.conturaenergy.com/investors. Analysts who would like to participate in the conference call should dial 866-270-1533 (domestic toll-free) or 412-317-0797 (international) approximately 15 minutes prior to the start of the call.

ABOUT CONTURA ENERGY

Contura Energy (NYSE: CTRA) is a Tennessee-based coal supplier with affiliate mining operations across major coal basins in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. With customers across the globe, high-quality reserves and significant port capacity, Contura Energy reliably supplies metallurgical coal to produce steel. For more information, visit www.conturaenergy.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Contura's expectations and beliefs concerning future events and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors are difficult to predict accurately and may be beyond Contura's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for Contura to predict these events or how they may affect Contura. Except as required by law, Contura has no duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this news release or elsewhere after the date this release is issued. In light of these risks and uncertainties, investors should keep in mind that results, events or developments discussed in any forward-looking statement made in this news release may not occur. 

INVESTOR CONTACT
[email protected]

Alex Rotonen, CFA
423.956.6882

MEDIA CONTACT
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Emily O'Quinn
423.573.0369

FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The discussion below contains "non-GAAP financial measures." These are financial measures which either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("U.S. GAAP" or "GAAP"). Specifically, we make use of the non-GAAP financial measures "Adjusted EBITDA," "non-GAAP coal revenues," "non-GAAP cost of coal sales," and "Adjusted cost of produced coal sold." We use Adjusted EBITDA to measure the operating performance of our segments and allocate resources to the segments. Adjusted EBITDA does not purport to be an alternative to net income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We use non-GAAP coal revenues to present coal revenues generated, excluding freight and handling fulfillment revenues. Non-GAAP coal sales realization per ton for our operations is calculated as non-GAAP coal revenues divided by tons sold. We use non-GAAP cost of coal sales to adjust cost of coal sales to remove freight and handling costs, depreciation, depletion and amortization - production (excluding the depreciation, depletion and amortization related to selling, general and administrative functions), accretion on asset retirement obligations, amortization of acquired intangibles, net, idled and closed mine costs and coal inventory acquisition accounting impacts. Non-GAAP cost of coal sales per ton for our operations is calculated as non-GAAP cost of coal sales divided by tons sold. Non-GAAP coal margin per ton for our coal operations is calculated as non-GAAP coal sales realization per ton for our coal operations less non-GAAP cost of coal sales per ton for our coal operations. We also use Adjusted cost of produced coal sold to distinguish the cost of captive produced coal from the effects of purchased coal. The presentation of these measures should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures to supplement GAAP results to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than GAAP results alone. The definition of these non-GAAP measures may be changed periodically by management to adjust for significant items important to an understanding of operating trends and to adjust for items that may not reflect the trend of future results by excluding transactions that are not indicative of our core operating performance. Furthermore, analogous measures are used by industry analysts to evaluate the Company's operating performance. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentations of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which companies operate, and capital investments.

Included below are reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.