Vancouver, BC – Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (“Teck”) reported adjusted profit attributable to shareholders of $653 million ($1.14 per share) in the second quarter compared with $580 million ($1.00 per share) in 2017.
“Our results for the second quarter were strong, with adjusted profit of $653 million and adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 billion,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO. “Our operations continued to perform well, Fort Hills achieved commercial production in the quarter and is now ramping up to full capacity.”
Highlights and Significant Items
- Profit attributable to shareholders was $634 million ($1.10 per share) in the second quarter compared with $580 million ($1.00 per share) a year ago. Adjusted profit was $653 million ($1.14 per share) in the second quarter compared with $580 million ($1.00 per share) in the second quarter of last year.
- EBITDA was $1.4 billion in the second quarter compared with $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2017.
- Gross profit was $1.2 billion in the second quarter compared with $1.1 billion a year ago. Gross profit before depreciation and amortization was $1.6 billion in the second quarter compared with $1.4 billion in the second quarter of 2017.
- At Fort Hills, commissioning is now complete and production is expected to ramp up to full capacity by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2018. Systems relating to all three trains are running well and plant start-up has exceeded expectations. We have included results from operations in our earnings from June 1.
- Steelmaking coal orders from customers were in place to exceed our sales guidance of 6.7 million tonnes, however, sales volumes of steelmaking coal were negatively affected due to strike preparations at CP Rail’s operations. There were two such events during the second quarter and the strike was resolved, but sales were affected as port stocks remained low.
- We continued to progress engineering work on the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project in anticipation of approval of the SEIA for the project and a development decision in the fourth quarter. A decision to proceed with development will be contingent upon regulatory approvals and market conditions, among other considerations, and we are currently exploring various potential financing alternatives for the project. We will shortly launch a process to seek an additional partner for Quebrada Blanca Phase 2. Our objective is to ultimately hold a 60 — 70% interest in the project and a transaction would most likely be announced in the fourth quarter.
- The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) has approved the $1.2 billion sale of our two-thirds interest in the Waneta Dam to BC Hydro. We expect closing of the sale to occur on July 26, 2018.
- Our liquidity remains strong at over $5.6 billion inclusive of $1.7 billion in cash at July 25, 2018 and US$3.0 billion of undrawn, committed credit facilities. On completion of the Waneta transaction, we will have $2.9 billion in cash and liquidity of $6.8 billion. In addition, we only have US$220 million of debt due before 2022.
- Antamina achieved record zinc production of 126,500 tonnes in the second quarter, exceeding the previous record by 24,200 tonnes.
- Strong mining performance from our steelmaking coal operations contributed towards record material movement for the business unit in the first half of the year, providing operational flexibility going forward.
- We have updated our guidance for certain production items, unit costs, capital expenditures and our annualized commodity price and foreign exchange rate sensitivities. Further details are located in our Guidance and Outlook sections.
- We were named to the Best 50 Corporate Citizens of Canada for the twelfth consecutive year by media and investment company, Corporate Knights.
- We announced on July 25 that we will pay an eligible dividend of $0.05 per share on our outstanding Class A common shares and Class B subordinate voting shares on September 28, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 14, 2018.
Download/view Q2 2018 Report for the full text of this release.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to in this news release as “forward-looking statements”). All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Teck to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements, including under the headings “Outlook,” that appear in various places in this release, include estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management’s expectations with respect to, among other things, anticipated global and regional supply and demand for our commodities, production, sales and unit cost guidance and forecasts for our products and individual operations, capital expenditure guidance, capitalized stripping guidance, mine lives and duration of operations at our various mines and operations, expectation that full production capacity at Fort Hills will be achieved by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2018, our statement that we are well positioned for ongoing profitability and strong cash flows, our expectation that coal production volumes can be adjusted to reflect market demand, potential to extend the mine life at Cardinal River, planned 2018 capital spending relating to the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan and timing of recommissioning of the West Line Creek Active Water Treatment Facility, potential of our R&D projects to significantly reduce capital and operating costs for water treatment in the Elk Valley, anticipated completion date for the D3 mill project at Highland Valley, timing of SEIA approval and development decision for Quebrada Blanca Phase 2, Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 mine life and production capacity projections and expectations regarding partnering for the project, expected spending and activities on our Project Satellite properties, impact of certain accounting initiatives and estimates, all guidance appearing in this presentation including but not limited to the production, sales, unit cost and capital expenditure guidance under the heading “Guidance”, the sensitivity of our profit and EBITDA to changes in currency exchange rates and commodity price changes, the expectation that our efforts have helped insulate our company from the effects of price volatility and the statement that there is a positive outlook for the company and demand and market outlook for commodities and our products. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially.
These statements are based on a number of assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions, the supply and demand for, deliveries of, and the level and volatility of prices of, zinc, copper and steelmaking coal and other primary metals and minerals as well as oil, and related products, the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for our development projects and other operations, our costs of production and production and productivity levels, as well as those of our competitors, power prices, continuing availability of water and power resources for our operations, market competition, the accuracy of our reserve estimates (including with respect to size, grade and recoverability) and the geological, operational and price assumptions on which these are based, conditions in financial markets, the future financial performance of the company, our ability to attract and retain skilled staff, our ability to procure equipment and operating supplies, positive results from the studies on our expansion projects, our steelmaking coal and other product inventories, our ability to secure adequate transportation, including rail and port service, for our products, assumptions that rail and port services perform adequately, our ability to obtain permits for our operations and expansions, and our ongoing relations with our employees and business partners and joint venturers. Assumptions regarding Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 are based on current project assumptions and the final Feasibility Study. Assumptions regarding the benefits of R&D efforts to reduce water treatment costs are are based on the assumption that technologies will work on a wide scale. Our Guidance tables include footnotes with further assumptions. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive. Events or circumstances could cause actual results to vary materially.
Factors that may cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity and power prices, changes in market demand for our products, changes in interest and currency exchange rates, acts of governments and the outcome of legal proceedings, inaccurate geological and metallurgical assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, adverse weather conditions and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), union labour disputes, political risk, social unrest, failure of customers or counterparties (including logistics suppliers) to perform their contractual obligations, changes in our credit ratings, unanticipated increases in costs to construct our development projects, difficulty in obtaining permits, inability to address concerns regarding permits of environmental impact assessments, and changes or further deterioration in general economic conditions. Our Fort Hills project is not controlled by us and schedules and costs may be adjusted by our partners, and timing of spending and continued development is not in our control. Current and new technologies relating to our Elk Valley water treatment efforts may not perform as anticipated.
Statements concerning future production costs or volumes are based on numerous assumptions of management regarding operating matters and on assumptions that demand for products develops as anticipated, that customers and other counterparties perform their contractual obligations, that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as mechanical failure, unavailability of parts and supplies, labour disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, adverse weather conditions, and that there are no material unanticipated variations in the cost of energy or supplies. Statements regarding anticipated steelmaking coal sales volumes and average steelmaking coal prices depend on timely arrival of vessels and performance of our steelmaking coal-loading facilities, as well as the level of spot pricing sales.
We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required under securities laws. Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under cover of Form 40-F, as well as subsequent filings that can also be found under our profile.
Scientific and technical information regarding our material mining projects in this quarterly report was approved by Mr. Rodrigo Alves Marinho, P.Geo., an employee of Teck. Mr. Marinho is a qualified person, as defined under National Instrument (NI) 43-101.
WEBCAST
Teck will host an Investor Conference Call to discuss its Q2/2018 financial results at 11:00 AM Eastern time, 8:00 AM Pacific time, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. A live audio webcast of the conference call, together with supporting presentation slides, will be available at our website at www.teck.com. The webcast will be archived at www.teck.com
Download/view Q2 2018 Report for the full text of this release.
Investor Contact:
Fraser Phillips
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Strategic Analysis
604.699.4621
fraser.phillips@teck.com
Media Contact:
Marcia Smith
Senior Vice President, Sustainability and External Affairs
604.699.4616
marcia.smith@teck.com
18-28-TR
