Arch Coal, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results

July 30, 2015 7:31 AM ET

Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA of $45 million

All operating regions cash flow positive for first half of year

Revised SG&A and capex expectations reduce 2015 spend by $27 million

Earnings Highlights

Quarter Ended Six Months Ended

In $ millions, except per share data 6/30/15 6/30/14 6/30/15 6/30/14

Revenues $644.5 $713.8 $1,321.5 $1,449.7

Loss from Operations ($69.5) ($35.8) ($89.3) ($108.9) Net Loss ($168.1) ($96.9) ($281.3) ($221.0) Diluted LPS ($0.79) ($0.46) ($1.32) ($1.04)

Adjusted Diluted LPS 1 ($0.73) ($0.46) ($1.27) ($1.06)

Adjusted EBITDA 1 $45.3 $64.9 $127.1 $92.5

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

ST. LOUIS, July 30, 2015 - Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today reported a net loss of $168 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, for the quarter ending June 30, 2015. The company recorded a $19.1 million impairment charge during the quarter and incurred $4.0 million of expenses related to its exchange transaction. Excluding asset impairments, expenses related to debt restructuring and amortization of sales contracts, Arch's second quarter 2015 adjusted net loss was $0.73 per diluted share compared with an adjusted net loss of $0.46 per diluted share in the prior-year quarter. Revenues totaled $644 million in the second quarter of 2015, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion and amortization ("EBITDA") was $45 million.
For the first half of 2015, Arch generated adjusted EBITDA of $127 million compared with $93 million in the prior-year period. Total revenues declined to $1.3 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2015, largely due to lower metallurgical coal prices and output versus the prior-year period.
"Arch continues to weather the significant market challenges facing the industry," said John W. Eaves, Arch's chairman and chief executive officer. "Even with the lowest shipment level experienced by Arch in more than five years and shipping challenges in the Powder River Basin, our operations continued to do an outstanding job of managing costs in this environment. In fact, all of our operating regions were cash flow positive during the first half of this year, a position we think sets us apart from our competitors."
"Our repositioned portfolio of large-scale, low-cost thermal operations in the PRB and highly competitive metallurgical coal operations in Appalachia is designed to help allow us to continue to navigate this challenging market environment," added Eaves.

Financial Position

As of June 30, 2015, Arch had a total liquidity position of approximately $812 million, with nearly $690 million of that liquidity in the form of cash and short-term investments. The company had no borrowings under its revolving credit facility at June 30, and has no long-term debt maturities due until mid-2018.
"As expected, with both our $60 million LBA payment and our semi-annual interest payments on the majority of our unsecured debt occurring during the second quarter, we had our highest cash outflow quarter of the year," said John T.

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Drexler, Arch's senior vice president and chief financial officer. "With the LBA payment behind us and other working capital improvements anticipated over the course of the year, we expect a significant moderation in our cash outflows in the second half of 2015." In addition, the company continues to pursue private exchange offers to deleverage its balance sheet and improve its liquidity profile.
"We continue to focus on controlling our costs and capital spending through this downturn and have reduced our capital and administrative spending expectations by an additional $27 million for full year 2015," said Drexler. "These targeted savings align with our overall focus to prudently manage production levels and costs in the face of one of the worst coal market downturns in history."

Core Values

During the second quarter of 2015, Arch continued to deliver solid safety and environmental performance with five operations attaining A Perfect Zero - a dual achievement of operating without a safety or environmental violation. Arch's total incident rate for the first six months of 2015 was four times better than the industry average. The company also made marked improvements in its environmental compliance record during the first half of 2015 when compared with the prior-year period.
"These achievements reflect the hard work and continued focus of our employees in the face of significant external distractions and pressures," said Paul A. Lang, president and chief operating officer. "Despite current market challenges, we remain focused on our goal of operating the world's safest and most environmentally responsible coal mines."

Operational Results

"While the coal market remains incredibly challenging and despite lower shipment levels than in the first quarter of 2015, we continue to perform very well operationally," said Lang. "Per-ton costs in the Powder River Basin were maintained even with lower volumes and our Bituminous Thermal operations continued to drive down costs, while our Appalachian mines experienced higher costs primarily due to the two expected longwall moves during the quarter."

Arch Coal, Inc.

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 continued to generate healthy operational cash flow margins during the second quarter. On a consolidated basis, Arch earned $2.82 per ton in cash margin during the second quarter of 2015 compared with $3.75 per ton in the first quarter of 2015, reflecting the impact of lower volumes in the company's PRB segment and two longwall moves in its Appalachian segment. The increase in consolidated sales price per ton was more than offset by a nearly eight percent increase in costs resulting from reduced shipment levels from the PRB segment and the impact of the longwall moves in Appalachia.

Powder River Basin

2Q15 1Q15 2Q14

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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, second quarter cash margin per ton decreased 11 percent to $2.25 per ton versus the first quarter. The decline was due to lower average selling price per ton, reflecting lower contracted pricing, particularly on indexed volumes, and a larger percentage of lower-quality tons in our regional sales mix. Cash costs per ton were flat, despite the decline in shipment volume, due to significant reductions in maintenance and supplies costs.

Appalachia

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 declined to $2.97 per ton from $12.82 per ton in the first quarter. Average selling price per ton increased slightly due to an increase in the percentage of metallurgical tons in the regional sales mix. The expected increase in cash cost per ton reflects the lower output at the two low-cost longwall operations due to the previously discussed second quarter longwall moves and the start of the annual miners' vacation period.

Bituminous Thermal

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 region, second quarter cash margin per ton increased 21 percent to $10.22 per ton, primarily due to a 19 percent decrease in cash cost per ton. The improvement in cash cost per ton was driven by strong cost control across the segment as well as increased volume levels at the lower-cost West Elk mine. Average sales price per ton declined
9 percent to $30.37, reflecting lower pricing on contracted tons.

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Market Trends

Economic recovery and a return to normal temperatures are boosting power demand. However, coal's share of generation has eroded in the face of low natural gas prices and the impact of the MATS regulations. According to the EIA, gas's share of generation in April eclipsed that of coal for the first time on record, and gas prices remain mired below $3 per million Btus. As a result, Arch continues to expect a decrease in domestic utility coal consumption of 80 million tons this year.
However, while domestic coal demand is down, U.S. producers are starting to respond. Based on preliminary MSHA data, stockpile data, and various mine idling announcements, Arch now expects coal production to fall by over 90 million tons
in 2015 compared to 2014. While the company expects coal stockpiles to remain elevated for some time, strong supply rationalization could lead to a better domestic thermal market in the future.
Internationally, the seaborne market remains challenging. The Australian dollar has weakened appreciably against the U.S. dollar, and Australia's coking coal benchmark recently settled at $93 per metric ton, the lowest since 2004. Thermal prices remain under considerable pressure as well.
"In the face of these challenges, Arch continues to adapt to market conditions and to focus on those market segments where it can capture the most value," Lang said.

Company Outlook

Given challenging market conditions, Arch has lowered the high end of its thermal guidance and now expects thermal sales volumes for 2015 to be in the range of 120 million to 124 million tons. In addition, Arch has again lowered its SG&A and capex guidance.
"We continue to take proactive steps to prudently manage through these tough times, with the goal of emerging a stronger company as markets recover," Eaves said. "Our cash-positive operating profile, relentless focus on cost control and capex management should enable us to continue to weather the ongoing challenges."

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A conference call regarding Arch Coal's second quarter 2015 financial results will be webcast live today at 11 a.m. Eastern time. The conference call can be accessed via the "investor" section of the Arch Coal website (http://investor.archcoal.com).
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. 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 our ability to complete our potential exchange offers;

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 June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,

2015 2014 2015 2014

(Unaudited)

Revenues $ 644,462 $713,776 $1,321,467 $1,449,747

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Loss from operations (69,546) (35,805) (89,258) (108,927)

Nonoperating expense

Expenses related to debt restructuring (4,016) - (4,016) -

Loss before income taxes

Benefit from income taxes

Net loss $(168,103) $ (96,860) $ (281,298) $ (220,999)

Net loss per common share

Basic and diluted LPS - Net loss $ (0.79) $ (0.46) $ (1.32) $ (1.04)

Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding 212,914 212,225 212,788 212,198

Dividends declared per common share $ - $ - $

Adjusted EBITDA (A)

Adjusted diluted Loss per common share (A)

$- 0.01

(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)

June 30, December 31,

2015 2014

(Unaudited)

Property, plant and equipment, net 6,341,026 6,453,458

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands)

Six Months Ended June 30,

2015 2014

(Unaudited)

Operating activities

Net loss $(281,298) $(220,999) Adjustments to reconcile to cash provided by operating activities:

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Investments in and advances to affiliates, net (5,138) (9,501)

Cash used in investing activities (107,524) (68,276)

Arch Coal, Inc. and Subsidiaries Schedule of Consolidated Debt (In thousands)

June 30, December 31,

2015 2014

(Unaudited)

Term loan due 2018 ($1.9 billion and $1.93 billion face value, respectively) $ 1,883,109 $ 1,890,846

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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 364,517 363,493

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 48,718 56,031

5,146,344 5,160,370

Less: current maturities of debt 31,763 36,885 Long-term debt $ 5,114,581 $ 5,123,485

Calculation of net debt

Total debt $ 5,146,344 $ 5,160,370

Less liquid assets:

Cash and cash equivalents 439,655 734,231

Short term investments 249,754 248,954

689,409 983,185

Net debt $ 4,456,935 $ 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 EBITDmAay 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 June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,

2015 2014 2015 2014

(Unaudited) (Unaudited)

Adjusted EBITDA $ 45,328 $ 64,932 $ 127,100 $ 92,537

Adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per share

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Adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per common share are adjusted for the after-tax impact of asset impairments and items relating to significant transactions 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. 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 June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,

2015 2014 2015 2014

(Unaudited) (Unaudited)

Net loss $ (168,103) $ (96,860) $ (281,298) $ (220,999)

Adjusted net loss $ (154,331) $ (97,965) $ (269,696) $ (224,470) Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 212,914 212,225 212,788 212,198

Diluted loss per share $ (0.79) $ (0.46) $ (1.32) $ (1.04)

Adjusted diluted loss per share $ (0.73) $ (0.46) $ (1.27) $ (1.06)

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 operating (income) expense, net" 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 June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,

2015 2014 2015 2014

(Unaudited) (Unaudited)

Total cash costs

Total tons sold

Total cash cost per ton $ 16.83 $ 17.43 $ 16.10 $ 17.90

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SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc.
Charles Dayton, Investor Relations, 314/994-2912

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