By Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb.com
Canada's Teck Resources reported "substantial progress with our debt reduction plan" Wednesday as the $5.81 billion bridge loan related to the acquisition of Fording‘s coal assets has been paid in full and a $4 billion term loan has been reduced to $2.74 billion.
In a statement Wednesday, Teck CEO Don Lindsay said, "Our total debt has been reduced by $4.6 billion since we completed the Fording transaction in October 2008, and we expect further reductions of approximately $1 billion upon the sale of the future gold production from our Andacollo mine and the Waneta Dam, which are expected to close later this year."
Teck's total debt balance was reported to be $8.9 billion as of July 22nd.
The company reported $811 million in net earnings for the first half of the years and $389 million in comparative net earnings, compared to $824 million in net earnings for the first six months of 2009 and $753 million in comparative net earnings.
For the second-quarter 2009, Teck reported net earnings of $570 million and comparative net earnings of $177 million, in contrast to the $497 million in net earnings and $503 million in comparative net earnings reported during second-quarter 2008.
Net earnings in the second quarter of this year included non-cash forex gains of $413 million, positive after-tax gain of $33 million from the sale of Hemlo Gold. Offsetting these items was the write-off of $87 million of previously capitalized debt financing fees as a result of the repayment of the majority of Teck's bridging loan in the quarter.
In the company's quarterly results statement, Teck management forecasts this year's coal sales to be at the upper end of the previously announced 18 million to 20 million tonnes.
In their outlook statement, Teck noted, "Base metals prices have increased significantly, while demand for coal has resulted in tightening markets."
Teck has scheduled a webcast today to discuss its financial results with analysts.
Mineweb is a web-based international mining publication focusing on mining financial and corporate news and comment.
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