Birmingham, Alabama-based Walter Energy, Inc. announced on Tuesday its Q4 and full-year results for 2011. For the full year, Walter Energy had a total revenue of $2.6 billion--a 62 percent increase from 2010. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the full year was $822 million--a 19 percent increased form the EBTIDA of 2010. The increase in both revenue and EBITDA can be attributed to the acquisition of Western Coal and more favorable pricing for hard coking coal (HCC) year over year. Revenue for Q4 had also increased over Q4 in 2010 from $401 million to $700 million. EBITDA also increased during Q4 by 21 percent, from $171 million to $207 million. Sales of HCC increased by 18 percent during Q4 of 2011 to 1.9 million metric tons. The average selling price during Q4 was $244/metric ton compared to $263/metric ton during Q3 of 2011.
Walt Scheller, CEO of Walter Energy had this to say about the 2012 outlook: "For 2012, we remain well-positioned to achieve record met coal production, and we are on target for 11.5 - 13.0 million metric tons comprised of approximately 75 percent hard coking coal and 25 percent PCI. We expect more than one-third of the increase to come from Mine No. 7, just under one-third to come from our other US operations, and approximately one-third to come from our Canadian operations."