Arch Resources

News & Media

Arch Coal, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results

November 9, 2015 at 6:45 AM EST
Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA of $135 million
Strong operational performance drives improved cash margins in all regions
Quarterly results include more than $2.1 billion in asset impairments due to deteriorating market conditions

 

Earnings Highlights


Quarter Ended

Nine Months Ended

In $ millions, except per share data

9/30/15

9/30/14

9/30/15

9/30/14

Revenues 

$688.5

$742.2

$2,010.0

$2,191.9

Loss from Operations 

($2,236.8)

($35.3)

($2,326.0)

($144.2)

Net Loss 

($1,999.5)

($97.2)

($2,280.8)

($318.2)

Diluted LPS

($93.91)

($4.58)

($107.16)

($15.00)

Adjusted Diluted LPS 1

($3.38)

($4.52)

($15.66)

($15.10)

Adjusted EBITDA 1

$134.8

$71.9

$261.9

$164.4

1/- Defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures."














 

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 9, 2015 -- Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today reported a net loss of $2.0 billion, or $93.91 per diluted share, for the quarter ending September 30, 2015. The company recorded a $2.1 billion asset impairment charge during the quarter and incurred $149 million of losses related to the bankruptcy of Patriot Coal. Excluding asset impairments, losses related to the Patriot Coal bankruptcy and amortization of sales contracts, Arch's third quarter 2015 adjusted net loss was $3.38 per diluted share compared with an adjusted net loss of $4.52 per adjusted diluted share in the prior-year quarter. Revenues totaled $689 million in the third quarter of 2015, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization ("EBITDA") was $135 million.  

For the first nine months of 2015, Arch generated adjusted EBITDA of $262 million compared with $164 million in the prior-year period. Total revenues declined to $2.0 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, largely due to lower metallurgical coal prices and output.

"From an operational perspective, Arch delivered an exceptionally strong performance during the quarter," said John W. Eaves, Arch's chairman and chief executive officer.  "Our results reflect the actions we have taken to respond to the challenging market environment, including reducing costs and enhancing efficiency across the company.  Thanks to the efforts of our skilled employees, we increased cash margins in each of our three operating regions and continued to build on our industry-leading safety and environmental stewardship records.  Despite these efforts, however, the difficult conditions impacting the coal industry persist, and we expect they will continue throughout 2016." 

Financial Position

"As demonstrated by our third quarter results, our operations continue to generate a significant amount of cash; and we are maintaining sufficient liquidity to continue operating as normal," said John T. Drexler, Arch's senior vice president and chief financial officer.  "Our cash flow, however, is not sufficient to service our debt sustainably in this operating environment.  As a result, Arch will require a significant restructuring of its balance sheet to continue to operate as a going concern over the long term.  We are currently in active dialogue with various creditors with respect to a restructuring of our balance sheet.  Our mining operations and customer shipments are continuing as normal and we continue to have sufficient liquidity and no near-term maturities.  Regardless of what path we ultimately choose, we expect to continue providing our customers the same high quality services they have come to expect from Arch."

Arch has elected to terminate its $250 million revolver which will become effective on November 11, 2015.  The company had no borrowings under its revolver and no intention to borrow under it.  On a pro-forma basis, taking into consideration the termination of the revolver, Arch had liquidity of $704.4 million at September 30, 2015 with $694.5 million of that in cash and liquid securities.

Core Values

Arch's focus on safety and environmental excellence led to continued progress throughout 2015, with five complexes completing the quarter with A Perfect Zero – the dual accomplishment of operating without a reportable safety incident or environmental violation.  Through the end of the third quarter, Arch's total-incident rate was three times better than the industry average and on pace to be the best in the Company's history.   Also, Arch's year-to-date 2015 environmental performance represents a nearly 40 percent improvement when compared to the first nine months of 2014 and is on track to set a new company record in environmental compliance. 

During the third quarter, Arch's Mountain Laurel complex in Appalachia was honored with the national Good Neighbor Award by the U.S. Department of Interior for demonstrating the nation's best stewardship practices of the past year. Arch Coal subsidiaries have earned six national Good Neighbor Awards since the program was established. Additionally, in September the Coal Creek mine in the Powder River Basin completed two years without a reportable safety incident.    

"We are pleased that our exemplary stewardship practices and community involvement were recognized at the national level," said Paul A. Lang, Arch president and chief operating officer.  "These accomplishments and continued improvements are a direct result of our employees' unwavering commitment to our core values. We continue to make great progress toward Arch's ultimate safety and environmental goals."    

Operational Results

"In addition to continuing our focus on reducing costs and operating efficiently, we also increased shipment levels in two of our three operating regions," said Lang.  "We reduced per-ton cash costs by 22 percent in Appalachia, driven by the strong productivity at our two longwall operations, and by 8 percent in the Powder River Basin, helped by higher shipment levels."

 

Arch Coal, Inc.


3Q15

2Q15

3Q14










Tons sold (in millions)

34.8

30.6

35.1

Average sales price per ton

$18.45

$19.65

$19.97

Cash cost per ton

$14.10

$16.83

$17.18

Cash margin per ton

$4.35

$2.82

$2.79

Total operating cost per ton 

$17.05

$19.96

$20.12

Operating margin per ton

$1.40

($0.31)

($0.15)










Consolidated results may not tie to regional breakout due to exclusion of other assets, rounding.

Cash cost per ton is defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures."

Operating cost per ton is the sum of cash costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization expense divided by tons sold.

 

Arch's operations increased operational cash flow margins during the third quarter. On a consolidated basis, Arch earned $4.35 per ton in cash margin during the third quarter of 2015 compared with $2.82 per ton in the second quarter of 2015, reflecting the impact of increased volumes in the company's Powder River Basin segment, high productivity in its Appalachian segment and lower per-ton costs across the operating platform.  Consolidated sales price per ton decreased more than 6 percent due to continued weakness in coal markets and a larger percentage of Powder River Basin volumes, but was more than offset by a decrease in per-ton cash costs.

 

Powder River Basin


3Q15

2Q15

3Q14










Tons sold (in millions)

29.5

25.5

29.3

Average sales price per ton

$13.07

$13.24

$13.03

Cash cost per ton

$10.10

$10.99

$10.92

Cash margin per ton

$2.97

$2.25

$2.11

Total operating cost per ton 

$11.71

$12.66

$12.42

Operating margin per ton

$1.36

$0.58

$0.61










Cash cost per ton is defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures."

Operating cost per ton is the sum of cash costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization expense divided by tons sold.

 

In the Powder River Basin, third quarter cash margin increased $0.72 to $2.97 per ton versus the second quarter. The increase was due to lower cash cost per ton largely attributable to higher shipment levels and continuing cost control efforts.  The average sales price per ton declined reflecting lower contracted pricing, particularly on indexed volumes.

 

Appalachia


3Q15

2Q15

3Q14










Tons sold (in millions)

3.0

3.1

3.6

Average sales price per ton

$62.24

$65.83

$68.72

Cash cost per ton

$48.96

$62.86

$66.37

Cash margin per ton

$13.28

$2.97

$2.35

Total operating cost per ton 

$63.70

$76.46

$79.87

Operating margin per ton

($1.46)

($10.63)

($11.15)










Cash cost per ton is defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures."

Operating cost per ton is the sum of cash costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization expense divided by tons sold.

 

In Appalachia, Arch's cash margin per ton more than tripled to $13.28 per ton from $2.97 per ton in the second quarter due to significant improvement in cash costs per ton.  The decrease reflects increased output at Arch's two longwall operations, particularly the Leer mine.  Prior quarter per-ton costs were impacted by longwall moves at both Leer and Mountain Laurel.  Average sales price per ton decreased due to continued deterioration in metallurgical markets.

 

Bituminous Thermal


3Q15

2Q15

3Q14










Tons sold (in millions)

2.3

1.9

2.2

Average sales price per ton

$30.20

$30.37

$31.81

Cash cost per ton

$19.85

$20.15

$19.48

Cash margin per ton

$10.35

$10.22

$12.33

Total operating cost per ton

$24.63

$25.77

$24.16

Operating margin per ton

$5.57

$4.60

$7.65










Cash cost per ton is defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures."

Operating cost per ton is the sum of cash costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization expense divided by tons sold.

 

In the Bituminous Thermal segment, third quarter cash margin per ton increased to $10.35 per ton, due to a decrease in cash costs per ton. The improvement in cash costs per ton was driven by increased shipment levels and production volume at the West Elk mine. Average sales price per ton declined slightly to $30.20, reflecting lower pricing on contracted tons.

Market Trends

Low natural gas prices, record high natural gas inventories, weak electric power demand and multiple coal plant closures stemming from the implementation of new environmental regulations led to a steep decline in domestic coal-based power generation.  As a result of these factors, Arch now expects domestic thermal coal consumption to decline by 95 million tons during 2015.  While supply cuts are well underway and will reduce U.S. thermal coal production markedly during the year, Arch nevertheless expects stockpiles at U.S. power generators to climb to more than 185 million tons, or over 90 days of supply, at year-end.  These inflated levels are expected to dampen thermal coal demand and pricing throughout next year.

Conditions in U.S. metallurgical coal markets remain challenging as well due to deteriorating global steel demand, continued strong output from Australia and a strong U.S. dollar that hinders U.S. competitiveness. 

"We believe that announced production cuts and the continued lack of investment in new metallurgical production simply will not be enough to balance the market, and that additional reductions will be necessary across our industry," Lang said.  "As a result, we expect pricing for both metallurgical and thermal coal to remain under significant pressure throughout 2016."

 

2015

2016



 Tons 

 $ per ton 

 Tons 

 $ per ton 

Sales Volume (in millions tons)









Thermal

120.0

-

124.0





Met

6.0

-

6.8





Total

126.0

-

130.8

















Powder River Basin









Committed, Priced



109.6

$13.18

66.0

$13.39

Committed, Unpriced


0.6



5.9

Total Committed



110.2



71.9

Average Cash Cost




$10.60

-

$10.80














Appalachia










Committed, Priced Thermal


5.7

$54.23

2.3

$58.33

Committed, Unpriced Thermal


-



-

Committed, Priced Metallurgical


6.2

$71.91

1.4

$77.03

Committed, Unpriced Metallurgical

-



0.7

Total Committed



11.9



4.4

Average Cash Cost




$55.50

-

$58.50














Bituminous Thermal









Committed, Priced



7.1

$31.35

3.8

$33.29

Committed, Unpriced


0.1



-

Total Committed



7.2



3.8

Average Cash Cost




$22.00

-

$24.00














Corporate (in $ millions)









D,D&A




$385

-

$395


S,G&A




$95

-

$105


Interest Expense 




$385

-

$395


Capital Expenditures



$120

-

$130


Liquidated Damages



$50

-

$60


(1)  This outlook assumes operations in the normal course and does not reflect the impact of any potential restructuring.

 

In light of the Company's ongoing discussions with various creditors, Arch will not host a conference call for investors this quarter. Additional information will be available in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will be available online on the Arch website, www.archcoal.com, and at www.SEC.gov.

U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is one of the world's top coal producers for the global steel and power generation industries, serving customers on five continents. Its network of mining complexes is the most diversified in the United States, spanning every major coal basin in the nation. The company controls more than 5 billion tons of high-quality metallurgical and thermal coal reserves, with access to all major railroads, inland waterways and a growing number of seaborne trade channels. For more information, visit www.archcoal.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements:  This press release contains "forward-looking statements" – that is, statements related to future, not past, events, including the Company outlook.  In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will."  Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain.  For us, particular uncertainties arise from changes in the demand for our coal by the domestic electric generation industry; from legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and other environmental initiatives; from operational, geological, permit, labor and weather-related factors; from fluctuations in the amount of cash we generate from operations; from potential demands for additional collateral for self-bonding; from any potential restructuring we do; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature.  These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements.  We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.  For a description of some of the risks and uncertainties that may affect our future results, you should see the risk factors described from time to time in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

 

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except per share data)









Three Months Ended September 30,

Nine Months Ended September 30,

2015

2014

2015

2014

(Unaudited)








Revenues

$        688,544

$        742,180

$      2,010,011

$      2,191,927








Costs, expenses and other operating






Cost of sales

540,192

647,096

1,668,766

1,955,547

Depreciation, depletion and amortization

103,965

105,155

306,211

312,042

Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net

(1,994)

(3,013)

(7,028)

(9,948)

Change in fair value of coal derivatives and coal trading activities, net

(3,559)

(3,733)

(1,128)

(5,811)

Asset impairment and mine closure costs

2,120,292

5,060

2,139,438

6,572

Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy

149,314

-

149,314

-

Selling, general and administrative expenses

25,731

28,136

72,604

87,203

Other operating (income) expense, net

(8,625)

(1,221)

7,864

(9,451)

2,925,316

777,480

4,336,041

2,336,154








Loss from operations

(2,236,772)

(35,300)

(2,326,030)

(144,227)








Interest expense, net






Interest expense

(99,759)

(98,217)

(298,585)

(292,648)

Interest and investment income

672

1,949

4,007

5,828

(99,087)

(96,268)

(294,578)

(286,820)








Nonoperating expense






Expenses related to debt restructuring

(7,482)

-

(11,498)

-








Loss before income taxes

(2,343,341)

(131,568)

(2,632,106)

(431,047)

Benefit from income taxes

(343,865)

(34,350)

(351,332)

(112,830)








Net loss

$     (1,999,476)

$         (97,218)

$     (2,280,774)

$       (318,217)








Net loss per common share






Basic and diluted LPS - Net loss

$           (93.91)

$             (4.58)

$         (107.16)

$           (15.00)








Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding

21,292

21,224

21,283

21,221








Dividends declared per common share

$                 -

$                 -

$                 -

$              0.10








Adjusted EBITDA (A)

$        134,805

$          71,902

$        261,905

$        164,439

Adjusted diluted Loss per common share (A)

$             (3.38)

$             (4.52)

$           (15.66)

$           (15.10)








(A) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted diluted Loss per common share are defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures" later in this release.

 

 

(A) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted diluted Loss per common share are defined and reconciled under "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures" later in this release.

 

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands)





September 30,

December 31, 

2015

2014

(Unaudited)

Assets


Current assets


Cash and cash equivalents

$   494,788

$   734,231

Short term investments

199,731

248,954

Restricted cash 

50,409

5,678

Trade accounts receivable

217,667

211,506

Other receivables

21,742

20,511

Inventories

239,035

190,253

Prepaid royalties

10,352

11,118

Deferred income taxes

20,454

52,728

Coal derivative assets

13,743

13,257

Other current assets

51,398

54,515

Total current assets

1,319,319

1,542,751




Property, plant and equipment, net

4,173,038

6,453,458




Other assets


Prepaid royalties

29,867

66,806

Equity investments

206,347

235,842

Other noncurrent assets

119,426

130,866

  Total other assets

355,640

433,514

Total assets

$5,847,997

$8,429,723




Liabilities and Stockholders' Deficit


Current liabilities


Accounts payable

$   152,229

$   180,113

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

310,747

302,396

Current maturities of debt

32,237

36,885

  Total current liabilities

495,213

519,394

Long-term debt

5,108,492

5,123,485

Asset retirement obligations

414,194

398,896

Accrued pension benefits

12,061

16,260

Accrued postretirement benefits other than pension

33,966

32,668

Accrued workers' compensation

95,905

94,291

Deferred income taxes

44,806

422,809

Other noncurrent liabilities

248,800

153,766

  Total liabilities

6,453,437

6,761,569




Stockholders' deficit


Common Stock

2,145

2,141

Paid-in capital

3,052,910

3,048,460

Treasury stock, at cost

(53,863)

(53,863)

Accumulated deficit

(3,612,599)

(1,331,825)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

5,967

3,241

  Total stockholders' deficit

(605,440)

1,668,154

Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit

$5,847,997

$8,429,723

 

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands)


Nine Months Ended September  30,

2015

2014

(Unaudited)

Operating activities


Net loss

$(2,280,774)

$(318,217)

Adjustments to reconcile to cash provided by operating activities:


Depreciation, depletion and amortization

306,211

312,042

Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net

(7,028)

(9,948)

Prepaid royalties expensed

6,661

5,645

Employee stock-based compensation expense

4,459

7,689

Asset impairment costs

2,136,610

1,512

Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy

149,314

Gains on disposals and divestitures

(1,191)

(21,965)

Amortization relating to financing activities

18,960

12,349

Changes in:


  Receivables

(3,165)

(6,779)

  Inventories

(48,848)

22,589

  Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities

(19,338)

73,324

  Income taxes, net

(4,303)

(514)

  Deferred income taxes

(347,180)

(112,998)

Other

9,930

37,261

 Cash provided by (used in) operating activities

(79,682)

1,990




Investing activities


Capital expenditures

(109,250)

(118,701)

Additions to prepaid royalties

(5,808)

(3,604)

Proceeds from disposals and dispositions

1,020

50,971

Purchases of short term investments

(203,094)

(181,546)

Proceeds from sales of short term investments

248,362

178,293

Investments in and advances to affiliates, net

(7,944)

(13,393)

  Cash used in investing activities

(76,714)

(87,980)




Financing activities


Payments on term loan

(14,625)

(14,625)

Net payments on other debt

(12,192)

(10,187)

Expenses related to debt restructuring

(11,498)

—

Debt financing costs

—

(2,219)

Dividends paid

—

(2,123)

Deposits of restricted cash

(44,732)

(6)

Other

(15)

  Cash used in financing activities

(83,047)

(29,175)




Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

(239,443)

(115,165)

Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period

734,231

911,099




Cash and cash equivalents, end of period

$    494,788

$ 795,934

 

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Schedule of Consolidated Debt

(In thousands)



September 30

December 31,


2015

2014


(Unaudited)





Term loan due 2018 ($1.9 billion and $1.93 billion face value, respectively) 

$1,879,261

$1,890,846

7.00% senior notes due 2019 at par

1,000,000

1,000,000

9.875% senior notes ($375.0 million face value) due 2019

365,050

363,493

8.00% senior secured notes due 2019 at par

350,000

350,000

7.25% senior notes due 2020 at par

500,000

500,000

7.25% senior notes due 2021 at par

1,000,000

1,000,000

Other

46,418

56,031


5,140,729

5,160,370

Less: current maturities of debt

32,237

36,885

Long-term debt

$5,108,492

$5,123,485





Calculation of net debt



Total debt

$5,140,729

$5,160,370

Less liquid assets:



Cash and cash equivalents

494,788

734,231

Short term investments

199,731

248,954


694,519

983,185

Net debt

$4,446,210

$4,177,185

 

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

(In thousands, except per share data)








Included in the accompanying release, we have disclosed certain non-GAAP measures as defined by Regulation G.  The following reconciles these items to net income and cash flows as reported under GAAP.








Adjusted EBITDA














Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income attributable to the Company before the effect of net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization, and the amortization of acquired sales contracts.   Adjusted EBITDA may also be adjusted for items that may not reflect the trend of future results.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant in understanding and assessing our financial condition. Therefore, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation, nor as an alternative to net income, income from operations, cash flows from operations or as a measure of our profitability, liquidity or performance under generally accepted accounting principles. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA presents a useful measure of our ability to incur and service debt based on ongoing operations. Furthermore, analogous measures are used by industry analysts to evaluate our operating performance. In addition, acquisition related expenses are excluded to make results more comparable between periods.  Investors should be aware that our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. The table below shows how we calculate Adjusted EBITDA.


Three Months Ended September 30, 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 

2015

2014

2015

2014

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Net loss

$  (1,999,476)

$  (97,218)

$  (2,280,774)

$  (318,217)

Income tax (benefit) expense

(343,865)

(34,350)

(351,332)

(112,830)

Interest expense, net

99,087

96,268

294,578

286,820

Depreciation, depletion and amortization

103,965

105,155

306,211

312,042

Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net

(1,994)

(3,013)

(7,028)

(9,948)

Asset impairment and mine closure costs

2,120,292

5,060

2,139,438

6,572

Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy

149,314

—

149,314

—

Expenses related to debt restructuring

7,482

—

11,498

—








Adjusted EBITDA

$      134,805

$   71,902

$      261,905

$   164,439

Adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per share

Adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per common share are adjusted for the after-tax impact of acquisition related costs and are not measures of financial performance in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.  We believe that adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per common share better reflect the trend of our future results by excluding items relating to significant transactions. The adjustments made to arrive at these measures are significant in understanding and assessing our financial condition.  Therefore, adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per share should not be considered in isolation, nor as an alternative to net loss or diluted loss per common share under generally accepted accounting principles.


Three Months Ended September 30, 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 

2015

2014

2015

2014

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Net loss 

$   (1,999,476)

$   (97,218)

$   (2,280,774)

$   (318,217)








Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net

(1,994)

(3,013)

(7,028)

(9,948)

Asset impairment and mine closure costs

2,120,292

5,060

2,139,438

6,572

Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy

149,314

-

149,314

-

Expenses related to debt restructuring

7,482

-

11,498

-

Tax impact of adjustment

(347,620)

(737)

(345,808)

1,215








Adjusted net loss

$        (72,002)

$   (95,908)

$      (333,360)

$   (320,378)








Diluted weighted average shares outstanding

21,292

21,224

21,283

21,221








Diluted loss per share 

$          (93.91)

$       (4.58)

$        (107.16)

$       (15.00)








Amortization of acquired sales contracts, net

(0.09)

(0.14)

(0.33)

(0.47)

Asset impairment and mine closure costs

99.58

0.24

100.52

0.31

Losses from disposed operations resulting from Patriot Coal bankruptcy

7.01

-

7.02

-

Expenses related to debt restructuring

0.35

-

0.54

-

Tax impact of adjustments

(16.33)

(0.03)

(16.25)

0.06

Adjusted diluted loss per share

$           (3.38)

$       (4.52)

$          (15.66)

$       (15.10)

Cash costs per ton

Cash costs per ton exclude the costs of depreciation, depletion and amortization and pass-through transportation costs, and may be adjusted for other items that, due to accounting rules, are classified in "other income/expense" on the statement of operations, but relate directly to the costs incurred to produce coal. Cash costs per ton are not measures of financial performance in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.  We believe cash costs per ton better reflect our controllable costs and our operating results by including all cash costs incurred to produce coal. The adjustments made to arrive at these measures are significant in understanding and assessing our financial condition.  Therefore, cash costs per ton should not be considered in isolation, nor as an alternative to cost of sales per ton under generally accepted accounting principles.


Three Months Ended September 30, 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 

2015

2014

2015

2014

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Cost of sales on condensed consolidated statements of operations

$       540,192

$  647,096

$    1,668,766

$  1,955,547

Transportation costs billed to customers

(11,097)

(41,280)

(98,426)

(198,853)

Settlements of heating oil derivatives used to manage diesel fuel purchase price risk

2,684

1,705

4,894

5,268

Other (other operating segments, operating overhead, land management, etc.)

(41,141)

(4,121)

(59,445)

(13,137)








Total cash costs 

$       490,638

$  603,400

$    1,515,789

$  1,748,825

Total tons sold

34,802

35,128

98,483

99,148

Total cash cost per ton

$           14.10

$      17.18

$           15.39

$        17.64

 

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arch-coal-inc-reports-third-quarter-2015-results-300174535.html

SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc.

Charles Dayton, Investor Relations, 314/994-2912

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