BHP posts second straight year of record iron ore production, beats estimates
The world's largest listed miner said iron ore output from Western Australia on a 100% basis was 76.8 million tonnes in the three months to June 30.
Teck Resources Ltd (TSX:TCK.B, NYSE:TCK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, felt the impact of stumbling commodities prices in the first quarter as adjusted profit fell 40% at the Vancouver-based company.
Despite the gloomy results, the firm managed to beat analyst expectations, logging an adjusted profit of $328 million, or 56 cents per share, in the first quarter, down from $544 million, or 93 cents per share in the same period last year.
The consensus estimate had been for 37 to 38 cents per share of adjusted earnings.
The company said the sharp drop in coal and copper prices was mainly to blame for the lower profit, even though it logged stronger sales volumes compared with the same period of 2012.
Sales fell to $2.2 billion from $2.4 billion a year earlier, beating the $2.16 billion average of Bloomberg’s estimates. The miner’s coal sales jumped 24% to 6.6 million metric tons in the quarter, up from 5.3 million last year. Yet coal revenue fell by $134 million.
Teck added it continues to experience volatile markets for its products, expecting total coal sales in the second quarter, including spot sales, to be at or above 6.0 million tonnes.
