Warrior Met Coal Upgraded by Moody’s to B2 with Stable Outlook
September 20 2018 - 10:22AM
Business Wire
Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) (“Warrior” or the
“Company”) today announced that Moody’s Investors Service
(“Moody’s”) has upgraded its Corporate Family Rating (“CFR”) to B2
from B3 with a Stable Outlook. Warrior is the leading dedicated
U.S.-based producer and exporter of high quality metallurgical
(“met”) coal for the global steel industry.
According to Moody’s, the upgrade reflects the Company’s strong
financial performance including free cash flow generation, strong
met coal prices, low financial leverage and changes in the
Company’s shareholder base. The upgrade further reflects
expectations that the Company will continue to demonstrate strong
free cash flow through 2019.
“We are pleased with Moody’s recognition of the Company’s strong
financial performance, conservative capital structure with low
financial leverage and changes in our shareholder base,” said Dale
W. Boyles, Chief Financial Officer of Warrior.
About Warrior
Warrior is a large scale, low-cost U.S. based producer and
exporter of premium HCC, operating highly efficient longwall
operations in its underground mines located in Alabama. The HCC
that Warrior produces from the Blue Creek coal seam contains very
low sulfur and has strong coking properties and is of a similar
quality to coal referred to as the premium HCC produced in
Australia. The premium nature of Warrior’s HCC makes it ideally
suited as a base feed coal for steel makers and results in price
realizations near the Platts Index. Warrior sells all its met coal
production to steel producers in Europe, South America and Asia.
For more information about Warrior, please visit www.warriormetcoal.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and the Company’s officers and
representatives may from time to time make, forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of
historical facts, included in this press release that address
activities, events or developments that the Company expects,
believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are
forward-looking statements, including statements regarding sales
and free cash flow generation, leverage and production growth,
ability to maintain cost structure, demand and the future direction
of prices. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,”
“intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “target,” “foresee,” “should,”
“would,” “could,” “potential,” or other similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the
absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not
forward-looking. These forward-looking statements represent
management’s good faith expectations, projections, guidance or
beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the
results described in this press release will not be achieved. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors, many of which are outside of the Company’s control,
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, fluctuations or changes in the pricing or
demand for the Company’s coal (or met coal generally) by the global
steel industry; the timing and number of longwall moves; federal
and state tax legislation; changes in interpretation or assumptions
and/or updated regulatory guidance regarding the Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act of 2017; legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air
Act and other environmental initiatives; regulatory requirements
associated with federal, state and local regulatory agencies, and
such agencies’ authority to order temporary or permanent closure of
the Company’s mines; operational, logistical, geological, permit,
license, labor and weather-related factors, including equipment,
permitting, site access, operational risks and new technologies
related to mining; the Company’s obligations surrounding
reclamation and mine closure; inaccuracies in the Company’s
estimates of its met coal reserves; the Company's expectations
regarding its future tax rate as well as its ability to effectively
utilize its NOLs; the Company’s ability to develop or acquire met
coal reserves in an economically feasible manner; significant cost
increases and fluctuations, and delay in the delivery of raw
materials, mining equipment and purchased components; competition
and foreign currency fluctuations; fluctuations in the amount of
cash the Company generates from operations, including cash
necessary to pay any special or quarterly dividend; the timing and
amount of any stock repurchases the Company makes under its stock
repurchase program; the Company’s ability to comply with covenants
in its credit facility or indenture relating to its 8.00% Senior
Notes due 2024; integration of businesses that the Company may
acquire in the future; adequate liquidity and the cost,
availability and access to capital and financial markets; failure
to obtain or renew surety bonds on acceptable terms, which could
affect the Company’s ability to secure reclamation and coal lease
obligations; costs associated with litigation, including claims not
yet asserted; and other factors described in the Company’s Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, Form 10-Q for the
quarterly period ended June 30, 2018 and other reports filed from
time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”), which could cause the Company’s actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
The Company’s filings with the SEC are available on its website at
www.warriormetcoal.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on
which it is made, and, except as required by law, the Company does
not undertake any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time,
and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such
factors.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180920005541/en/
Warrior Met Coal, Inc.For Investors:Dale W. Boyles,
205-554-6129dale.boyles@warriormetcoal.comorFor Media:William
Stanhouse, 205-554-6131william.stanhouse@warriormetcoal.com
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