For the period ended December 31, Alpha reported net income of $US10.8 million, compared to net income of $17.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Total quarterly revenues increased to $993.12 million from $893.29 million a year earlier. Of that, coal revenues were $876 million, up from $787.5 million, on 22.1 million tons of coal sales versus 21.3Mt.
"Looking back over Alpha's fourth quarter and full-year 2010 results, the company achieved record revenue and EBITDA in 2010 despite subpar rail service, severe weather in the east and vessel delays at the ports experienced during the fourth quarter,” the company said.
“We are pleased with the relatively consistent performance that Alpha has delivered throughout the year, driven by our scale, diversification and business mix, which balances our position as the leading domestic supplier of metallurgical coal with the substantial margin generation power of our Pittsburgh #8 longwall mines and the stable contribution of our western operations in the Powder River Basin.”
Alpha commented on its January 29 announcement that it would take over Massey Energy, calling the deal a “transformational combination”
When the transaction closes, the company will be the second-largest revenue holder in the US, the third-largest in total shipments, and the leading supplier and exporter of metallurgical coal, holding about 5.1 billion tons coal, including 1.7Bt of met reserves, and with an anticipated 24-26Mt of met coal shipments this year pro forma.
“Our primary focus going forward will be maintaining operational excellence within Alpha's core business,” the company said.
“At the same time, we are dedicated to closing the Massey acquisition as quickly as practicable, and then executing our detailed plan for integrating our two companies.”
Looking ahead, Alpha said it was on track for another record year in 2011 on a stand-alone basis. Met shipments are anticipated to be 13-14.5Mt, an all-time high.
“In light of the devastating flooding recently experienced in Australia, spot prices for coking coal have risen above the recent first-quarter benchmark settlement, and tight overseas market conditions are expected to persist throughout the year,” the company noted.
“As the largest exporter of metallurgical coal among US producers, Alpha is positioned to benefit from our ability to serve the seaborne metallurgical market in 2011, and these market conditions bode well for Alpha's prospects in 2012 with over 90 per cent of our 2012 metallurgical coal shipments open to market pricing."
Another highlight for the producer in 2010 was its safety performance.
"Among our eastern operations, nine operations in our southern West Virginia business unit, nine operations in our Virginia/Kentucky business unit, seven operations in our northern West Virginia business unit, and all of our AMFIRE surface mines completed the year 2010 without a single lost-time accident,” Alpha chief executive Kevin Crutchfield said.
“We are proud of our entire workforce and their dedication to Alpha's Running Right culture that has driven continuous improvements in safety performance throughout our history.”
