2023-05-02 11:47:25 ET
Consol Energy ( NYSE: CEIX ) +6.1% in Tuesday's trading after swinging to a Q1 profit from a year-earlier loss, as coal production jumped 9% and pivoted to exports.
Consol Energy ( CEIX ) also announced a $1.10/share dividend, representing ~17% of free cash flow generated in Q1, and said it plans to return ~75% of quarterly free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks, starting in Q2.
Q1 GAAP net income totaled $230.4M, swinging from a $4.4M loss reported in the year-earlier quarter, adjusted EBITDA rose to $346.3M from $169.2M a year ago, and revenues nearly doubled to $688.6M from $454.2M in the same period last year.
At the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, Consol ( CEIX ) said it ran all five longwalls during Q1 and produced 7M tons, compared to 6.4M tons in the year-ago quarter, with sales of 6.7M tons for realized coal revenues of $563.3M, vs. 6.5M tons for realized coal revenues of $473M a year earlier.
Consol ( CEIX ) said the significant improvement in PAMC total realized coal revenue was driven by a $24.72/ton improvement in average realized coal revenues, as coal prices were stronger during the quarter compared to the prior-year period; average cash cost of coal sold rose to $33.61/ton from $29.91/ton in the year-ago quarter.
About two-thirds of the PAMC complex's Q1 realized coal revenue came from export sales, Consol ( CEIX ) said.
Consol Marine Terminal shipped a record quarterly throughput volume of 4.6M tons in Q1, up from 3.6M tons a year earlier, citing increased throughput tonnage and continued commodity pricing strength.
The company said it remains focused on ramping up to full run-rate production during 2023 at the Itmann mining project.
Consol Energy ( CEIX ) said it expects Itmann will produce 400K-600K tons of coal in 2023 and targets Pennsylvania Mining Complex coal sales volume of 25M-27M tons at an average cash cost of $34-$36/ton for the year.
More on Consol Energy:
- See financial and valuation comparisons to sector peers
- SA analysis: Strong Coal Exports Support Cash Flow For Years To Come
- Stock price return: 9% gain YTD, 39% gain in the past 12 months
For further details see:
Consol Energy rallies after ramping up Q1 coal production