0000950123-11-048885.txt : 20110511 0000950123-11-048885.hdr.sgml : 20110511 20110511161039 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0000950123-11-048885 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 8-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 4 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20110509 ITEM INFORMATION: Results of Operations and Financial Condition ITEM INFORMATION: Financial Statements and Exhibits FILED AS OF DATE: 20110511 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20110511 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: WESTMORELAND COAL Co CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000106455 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: BITUMINOUS COAL & LIGNITE SURFACE MINING [1221] IRS NUMBER: 231128670 STATE OF INCORPORATION: DE FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 8-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 001-11155 FILM NUMBER: 11832073 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 2 N CASCADE AVE STREET 2: 2ND FLOOR CITY: COLORADO SPRINGS STATE: CO ZIP: 80903-1614 BUSINESS PHONE: 7194422600 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 2 N CASCADE AVE STREET 2: 2ND FLOOR CITY: COLORADO SPRINGS STATE: CO ZIP: 80903-1614 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: WESTMORELAND COAL CO DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19920703 8-K 1 c17051e8vk.htm FORM 8-K Form 8-K
 
 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 9, 2011
WESTMORELAND COAL COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
         
Delaware   001-11155   23-1128670
         
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
  (Commission File Number)   (IRS Employer Identification No.)
     
2 North Cascade Avenue, 2nd Floor,
Colorado Springs, CO
   
80903
     
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (719) 442-2600
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
o   Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
o   Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
o   Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
o   Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
 
 


 

Item 2.02. Results of Operations and Financial Condition
On May 9, 2011, Westmoreland Coal Company (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2011. A copy of this press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein.
On May 9, 2011, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the Company hosted a conference call with investors to discuss the Company’s financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2011. The conference call was made available to the public via conference call and webcast. The transcript of the conference call is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2.
The information in this Current Report on Form 8-K and the Exhibits attached hereto are being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d) Exhibits
         
Exhibit No.   Description
       
 
  99.1    
Press Release dated May 9, 2011
  99.2    
Transcript of Investor Conference Call

 

 


 

SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
             
    WESTMORELAND COAL COMPANY    
 
           
Date: May 11, 2011
  By:   /s/ Kevin A. Paprzycki
 
Kevin A. Paprzycki,
   
 
      Chief Financial Officer    
 
      (a duly authorized officer)    

 

 


 

EXHIBIT INDEX
         
Exhibit No.   Description
       
 
  99.1    
Press Release dated May 9, 2011
  99.2    
Transcript of Investor Conference Call

 

 

EX-99.1 2 c17051exv99w1.htm EXHIBIT 99.1 Exhibit 99.1
EXHIBIT 99.1
(NEWS RELEASE LOGO)
     
Westmoreland Coal Company   2 N. Cascade Ave., 2nd Floor
(719) 442-2600 — Telephone   Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Westmoreland Reports
First Quarter 2011 Results
Colorado Springs, CO — May 9, 2011 — Westmoreland Coal Company (NASDAQ:WLB) today reported its first quarter results for 2011.
Highlights:
    Operating income increased $2.1 million (40.0%) from $5.3 million in Q1 2010 to $7.4 million in Q1 2011.
    Adjusted EBITDA increased $2.1 million (9.7%) during Q1 2011 to $23.3 million as compared to $21.2 million in Q1 2010.
    Net loss applicable to common shareholders of $18.0 million ($1.45 per basic and diluted share) for Q1 2011 which included $17.0 million of losses on the extinguishment of debt and a $3.2 million conversion premium on the Company’s convertible notes pursuant to the first quarter bond issuance and refinancing. The Q1 2010 net loss was $3.2 million ($0.30 per basic and diluted share).
    Total revenues were $127.8 million for Q1 2011, 1.0% higher than revenues for Q1 2010. This was accomplished on lower volume due to the expiration of an unprofitable coal contract.
    Westmoreland again continued its strong safety performance achieving reportable and lost time incident rates approximately 20.0% and 29.8%, respectively, of the national averages for surface operations for the first quarter of 2011.
    During the first quarter of 2011, Westmoreland’s Beulah Mine received the Lignite Energy Council’s Safety Excellence Award for the mine or plant with the lowest accident incident rate in the lignite industry and Westmoreland’s Jewett Mine received the 2011 Railroad Commission of Texas Coal Mining Reclamation Award for its “Wilkerson Springs Creek Relocation.”

 

 


 

“The first quarter of 2011 was the sixth straight quarter in which we increased our operating profit and adjusted EBITDA over the prior year quarter” said Keith E. Alessi, Westmoreland’s President and CEO. “As previously announced, we incurred substantial charges during the quarter related to the refinancing of debt and placement of our senior subordinated debt issuance in February 2011. The expiration of an unfavorable coal contract led to improved results in our coal operation despite lower sales. Strong hydro-power conditions combined with scheduled maintenance shutdowns by our coal customers and our ROVA plant will negatively impact our Q2 2011 versus the Q2 2010 results. However, this is in line with our expectations.”
“We are very pleased with our safety performance during the first quarter of 2011. We once again beat the national surface mine averages by a significantly large margin due to the continuation of our Beulah Mine’s award winning safety performance. We are also extraordinarily proud of the reclamation award that our Jewett Mine recently received from the Railroad Commission in Texas. These achievements underscore our commitment to safe and responsible mining practices.”
Westmoreland’s Q1 2011 net loss includes $17.0 million of losses on the extinguishment of debt and $3.2 million of mark-to-market expense from the conversion of the Company’s previously outstanding convertible notes. Westmoreland’s Q1 2010 net loss included $4.8 million of expense related to the valuation of the conversion feature in the Company’s convertible notes. Excluding the $20.2 million of refinancing and debt conversion expense in Q1 2011 and the $4.8 million of mark-to-market expense on the convertible debt in Q1 2010, the Company’s net loss decreased by $0.6 million.
The Company’s revenues in Q1 2011 increased to $127.8 million compared with $126.4 million in Q1 2010. This revenue increase was driven by stronger tonnage sales and favorable pricing at the Company’s Absaloka Mine which offset the expiration of an unprofitable coal contract at its Rosebud Mine.
Westmoreland’s Adjusted EBITDA increased to $23.3 million in Q1 2011 from $21.2 million in Q1 2010.
Coal Segment Operating Results
The following table summarizes the Company’s Q1 2011 and Q1 2010 coal segment performance:
                                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
                    Increase / (Decrease)  
    2011     2010     $     %  
Revenues (in thousands)
  $ 104,136     $ 103,550     $ 586       0.6 %
Operating income (in thousands)
    8,819       7,352       1,467       20.0 %
Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands)
    21,285       20,237       1,048       5.2 %
Tons sold — millions of equivalent tons
    5.6       6.3       (0.7 )     (11.1 )%
Operating income per ton sold
  $ 1.57     $ 1.17     $ 0.40     $ 34.9 %
The Company’s coal revenues for the first quarter of 2011 were $104.1 million. Sales increased on stronger tonnages by its Absaloka Mine that offset the expiration of an unprofitable coal contract at the Rosebud Mine. The expiration of the unprofitable coal contract also drove Q1 2011 increases in the Company’s coal segment operating income and Adjusted EBITDA.

 

 


 

Power Segment Operating Results
The following table summarizes the Company’s Q1 2011 and Q1 2010 power segment performance:
                                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
                    Increase / (Decrease)  
    2011     2010     $     %  
    (In thousands)  
Revenues
  $ 23,628     $ 22,889     $ 739       3.2 %
Operating income
    4,619       4,172       447       10.7 %
Adjusted EBITDA
    7,352       6,881       471       6.8 %
Megawatts hours
    435       435              
The Company’s power segment revenues for the first quarter of 2011 increased to $23.6 million compared to $22.9 million in first quarter 2010. This $0.7 million increase is primarily from contractual price increases, which also drove the increases in operating income and Adjusted EBITDA.
Heritage Segment Operating Results
The Company’s first quarter 2011 heritage operating expenses remained comparable to the reduced first quarter 2010 levels of $4.3 million. Heritage segment Adjusted EBITDA remained at a negative $4.2 million in Q1 2011 and Q1 2010.
Corporate Segment Operating Results
The Company’s corporate segment operating expenses for the first quarter of 2011 were $1.8 million, which was comparable to $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2010. Corporate segment Adjusted EBITDA improved to a negative $1.2 million in Q1 2011 from a negative $1.6 million in Q1 2010.
Nonoperating Results
The Company’s interest expense for the first quarter of 2011 increased to $7.0 million compared with $5.7 million for the first quarter of 2010 due to the higher overall debt levels resulting from the Company’s bond offering.
The Company’s other expense for the first quarter of 2011 decreased to $3.0 million compared with $3.8 million of expense for the first quarter of 2010. Excluding the impact of the expense on the conversion feature in the Company’s convertible debt, its other expense increased $0.6 million primarily due to gains on sales of securities during the first quarter of 2010.
Cash Flow from Operations and Liquidity
Cash provided by operating activities increased by $2.9 million during Q1 2011 compared to Q1 2010 driven by the Company’s increase in operating profit.
Following Westmoreland’s first quarter bond offering and improved profits, the Company anticipates that its cash flows from operations, cash on hand and available borrowing capacity will be sufficient to meet its investing, financing, and working capital needs for several years.

 

 


 

Conference Call
A conference call regarding Westmoreland Coal Company’s first quarter 2011 results will be held on Monday, May 9, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Call-in instructions are available on the Company’s web site and have been provided in a separate news release.
Safety
Safety performance at Westmoreland mines continues to be significantly better than the national average for surface operations. Westmoreland mines had reportable and lost time incident rates year to date through the first quarter of 2011 of 0.37 and 0.37 versus the national surface mine rates of 1.85 and 1.24, respectively. The reportable incident rate and lost time rate for the first quarter of 2011 compared favorably to the first quarter 2010 rates of 0.65.
                 
    Reportable     Lost Time  
First Quarter 2010
    0.65       0.65  
First Quarter 2011
    0.37       0.37  
Additional Information
Westmoreland Coal Company is the oldest independent coal company in the United States. The Company’s coal operations include coal mining in the Powder River Basin in Montana and lignite mining operations in Montana, North Dakota and Texas. Its power operations include ownership of the two-unit ROVA coal-fired power plant in North Carolina. For more information visit www.westmoreland.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects” and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the Company’s expectation that its cash flows from operations, cash on hand and available borrowing capacity will be sufficient to meet its investing, financing, and working capital needs for the next several years.
Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. The Company’s actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are statements neither of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include political, economic, business, competitive, market, weather and regulatory conditions and the following:
  changes in the Company’s postretirement medical benefit and pension obligations and the impact of recently enacted healthcare legislation;
  changes in the Company’s black lung obligations, changes in the Company’s experience related to black lung claims, and impact of the recently enacted healthcare legislation;

 

 


 

  the Company’s potential inability to expand or continue current coal operations due to limitations in obtaining bonding capacity for new mining permits;
  the Company’s potential inability to maintain compliance with debt covenant and waiver agreement requirements;
  the potential inability of the Company’s subsidiaries to pay dividends to them due to restrictions in the Company’s debt arrangements, reductions in planned coal deliveries or other business factors;
  risks associated with the structure of ROVA’s contracts with its lenders, coal suppliers and power purchaser, which could dramatically affect the overall profitability of ROVA;
  the effect of Environmental Protection Agency inquiries and regulations on the operations of ROVA;
  the effect of prolonged maintenance or unplanned outages at the Company’s operations or those of its major power generating customers, including unplanned outages at its customers due to the impact of weather-related variances;
  future legislation and changes in regulations, governmental policies and taxes, including those aimed at reducing emissions of elements such as mercury, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter or greenhouse gases; and
  the other factors that are described in “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Form 10-K for fiscal year 2010.
Any forward-looking statements made by the Company in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Factors or events that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ may emerge from time-to-time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of them. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
# # #
Contact: Kevin Paprzycki (719) 442-2600

 

 


 

Westmoreland Coal Company and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
                 
    Three Months Ended  
    March 31,  
    2011     2010  
    (In thousands, except  
    per share data)  
 
               
Revenues
  $ 127,764     $ 126,439  
 
               
Cost, expenses and other:
               
Cost of sales
    97,510       97,677  
Depreciation, depletion and amortization
    11,245       11,392  
Selling and administrative
    9,305       9,976  
Heritage health benefit expenses
    3,778       3,915  
Loss on sales of assets
    83       71  
Other operating income
    (1,597 )     (1,906 )
 
           
 
    120,324       121,125  
 
           
Operating income
    7,440       5,314  
 
               
Other income (expense):
               
Interest expense
    (6,967 )     (5,723 )
Loss on extinguishment of debt
    (17,030 )      
Interest income
    382       410  
Other loss
    (3,017 )     (3,836 )
 
           
 
    (26,632 )     (9,149 )
 
           
Loss before income taxes
    (19,192 )     (3,835 )
Income tax benefit from operations
    (460 )     (90 )
 
           
Net loss
    (18,732 )     (3,745 )
Less net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest
    (1,121 )     (890 )
 
           
Net loss attributable to the Parent company
    (17,611 )     (2,855 )
Less preferred stock dividend requirements
    340       340  
 
           
Net loss applicable to common shareholders
  $ (17,951 )   $ (3,195 )
 
           
 
               
Net loss per share applicable to common shareholders:
               
Basic and diluted
  $ (1.45 )   $ (0.30 )
 
               
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
               
Basic and diluted
    12,369       10,521  

 

 


 

Westmoreland Coal Company and Subsidiaries
Summary Financial Information (Unaudited)
                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
    2011     2010  
    (In thousands)  
Cash Flow
               
Net cash provided by operating activities
  $ 16,182     $ 13,296  
Net cash used in investing activities
    (5,884 )     (3,941 )
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
    28,911       (2,114 )
                 
    March 31,     December 31,  
    2011     2010  
    (In thousands)  
Balance Sheet Data (Unaudited)
               
Total assets
  $ 787,987     $ 750,306  
Total debt
  $ 294,362     $ 242,104  
Working capital deficit
  $ (1,024 )   $ (35,793 )
Total deficit
  $ (173,927 )   $ (162,355 )
Common shares outstanding
    13,155       11,161  
                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
    2011     2010  
    (In thousands)  
Adjusted EBITDA by Segment
               
Coal
  $ 21,285     $ 20,237  
Power
    7,352       6,881  
Heritage
    (4,170 )     (4,255 )
Corporate
    (1,183 )     (1,635 )
 
           
Total
  $ 23,284     $ 21,228  
 
           

 

 


 

                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,  
    2011     2010  
    (In thousands)  
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss
               
Net loss
  $ (18,732 )   $ (3,745 )
 
               
Income tax benefit from continuing operations
    (460 )     (90 )
Other loss
    3,017       3,836  
Interest income
    (382 )     (410 )
Loss on extinguishment of debt
    17,030        
Interest expense
    6,967       5,723  
Depreciation, depletion and amortization
    11,245       11,392  
Accretion of ARO and receivable
    2,700       3,003  
Amortization of intangible assets and liabilities
    163       85  
 
           
EBITDA
    21,548       19,794  
 
               
Loss on sale of assets
    83       71  
Share-based compensation
    1,653       1,363  
 
           
Adjusted EBITDA
  $ 23,284     $ 21,228  
 
           
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are included in this news release because they are key metrics used by management to assess the Company’s operating performance and the Company believes that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful to an investor in evaluating the Company’s operating performance because these measures:
    are used widely by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such terms, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors; and
    help investors to more meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of the Company’s operations from period to period by removing the effect of the Company’s capital structure and asset base from its operating results.
Neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA is a measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. The items excluded from EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are significant in assessing the Company’s operating results. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, analysis of the Company’s results as reported under GAAP. For example, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:
    do not reflect the Company’s cash expenditures, or future requirements for capital and major maintenance expenditures or contractual commitments;
    do not reflect income tax expenses or the cash requirements necessary to pay income taxes;

 

 


 

    do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, the Company’s working capital needs; and
    do not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on certain of the Company’s debt obligations.
In addition, although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements. Other companies in the Company’s industry and in other industries may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA differently from the way that the Company does, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as measures of discretionary cash available to the Company to invest in the growth of its business. The Company compensates for these limitations by relying primarily on its GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only as supplemental data.

 

 

EX-99.2 3 c17051exv99w2.htm EXHIBIT 99.2 Exhibit 99.2
EXHIBIT 99.2
Transcript of
Westmoreland Coal (WLB)
Investor Conference Call

May 9, 2011
Participants
Keith E. Alessi, President and Chief Executive Officer
Kevin A. Paprzycki, Chief Financial Officer
Douglas P. Kathol, Executive Vice President
Presentation
Operator
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Westmoreland Coal Company’s Investor conference call. At this time, all telephone participants are in a listen only mode. Following the formal presentation, instructions will be given for the question and answer session which will be conducted by telephone. Web participants wishing to ask a question will need to dial in by telephone to the audio portion of the call. If anyone needs operator assistance at any time during the conference, please press the * followed by the zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today and the replay will be made available as soon as practical on the investor portion of the Westmoreland website through May 23rd, 2011.
Management’s remarks today may contain forward-looking statements based on the company’s current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. The company’s actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in any such forward-looking statements. For a summary of risk factors and other information regarding forward-looking statements, please refer to the company’s form 10-K for fiscal year 2010, as well as the company’s form 10-Q for the first quarter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 9th, 2011. Any forward-looking statements represent the company’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. While the company may elect to update forward-looking statements, at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its estimates change and therefore you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the company’s views as of any date subsequent to today. Mr. Keith E. Alessi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westmoreland Coal Company will be delivering today’s remarks. Thank you, Mr. Alessi. Please begin.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Thank you and good morning to everybody for joining the first quarter call. I am certain you have all seen the press release that went out this morning describing the results of operation for the first quarter. When we chatted at year end, or when the year-end numbers were released with our 10-K, most of the information that is in there related to the bond offering was disclosed so there is really no new news in here. This quarter, was very much in line with our expectations in terms of both operating income and EBITDA. We were pleased with the quarter. I have very brief remarks to make as a result because you know our business really doesn’t change much from a quarter-to-quarter basis. I think one of the comments that I have made in the press release and I would reiterate here is that we have gone through a period of time where quarter-to-quarter we have been able to improve our results over the prior and that it’s been six straight quarters we have been able to do that. Much of that is a function of the turnaround efforts and the improvement of the operations that we have seen over that period of time.

 

 


 

We knew when we sat down looking at 2011, that the second quarter would probably be the quarter that that streak would break simply because one of our larger customers had a regularly scheduled maintenance outage during the quarter, coming up in the second quarter here in 2011 where they were online during 2010. So, we expect the second quarter to be in line with our expectations but I am not certain it will be as strong as Q2 last year. The other thing that’s affecting Q2 right now and its something that every year we take a good look at is the high grow season out west. This has been an extraordinarily heavy snow pack in the mountains. That impacts our Colstrip customers particularly. Again, they saw this coming and had projected it. With their large unit out for maintenance, it’s kind of a moot point while it’s out for maintenance. The question is when will it come back up. We do not expect it to be a long period of time but clearly that will impact Q2 also. But we are optimistic. The year is still coming along as we pretty much had seen it laying out when we sat down at the beginning of the year. We continue to make progress on a number of fronts. Our WRI operation is one that we have spent a lot of time and energy focusing on and we are seeing some signs of improvement in some of the issues we dealt with historically there. So we feel pretty good about life and pretty good about the quarter.
I did point out at the end of the release and it is something we continue to be very proud of is our safety record and also we were able to pick up a very nice reclamation award down at our Texas mine, which was a real tribute to the folks down there and my understanding is that we have quite a few people from across the country coming down to take a look at what we did with the Wilkerson Springs Creek relocation and we’re proud of that too. So with that I’ll just open it up for questions and Kevin Paprzycki is with us this morning and so is Doug Kathol if there’s questions you have for them.
Operator
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press *2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the * keys. Callers in the queue are requested to limit their number of questions to one primary question and one follow-up question. If you desire to ask additional questions, please re-enter the queue. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from Brian Taddeo of Gleacher & Company. Please state your question.
<Q>: Hi. Good morning everybody.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Morning.
<Q>: A couple of question. First, can you just give us an update on what the rail situation is looking like, WRI now? I think there might have been a couple of issues late last year, early this year in moving coal. I just wanted to see what the situation was like now.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Yeah, it’s improved. Doug, you can give more specific detail.

 

 


 

Doug Kathol — Westmoreland Coal Company — Executive Vice President
Right. We have seen significant improvement over the last six weeks. We have been working diligently with the customer and also we have been working extensively with the BN Railroad. We have had meetings with them and we are seeing an improved service as a result.
<Q>: Have there been any missed deliveries?
Doug Kathol — Westmoreland Coal Company — Executive Vice President
There were earlier in the year. Most recently, this last two months we’ve seen again a much improved, and we have not missed any deliveries but they have missed a few loads, yes.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
I think that’s an important point to point out. We can only do, you know what’s within our control and over the last 60 days, none of the misses have a result of us. It’s been either the customer was unable to take it because of issues at their end or there weren’t crews for the railroad.
<Q>: Got you. Okay, one other question I had, actually a couple more. The distributions from WML up to the parent, were there any in the quarter or can you comment quarter and year to date?
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Kevin can comment on what was available for distribution. We can take them up whenever we decide to take them up and just to manage our lines of credit and what not, in order not to have drawn a line of credit downstairs and send money upstairs. We sometimes park money in different places but, Kevin, you can talk about what the available amount would have been.
Kevin Paprzycki — Westmoreland Coal Company — CFO
Hi Brian, we had about $5 million that was available to come up to the parent in the quarter.
<Q>: Sorry, that’s as of quarter end or?
Kevin Paprzycki — Westmoreland Coal Company — CFO
Sorry that was in the second quarter that was from the first quarter performance.
<Q>: Got you, okay. And actually what’s the current cash balance or liquidity balance of the company right now?
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Total company it’s in the $40 million, mid 40s, 45-ish.
<Q>: $45 million in cash.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Right.
<Q>: And then still the whole revolver down at WML?
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
The revolver at WML is undrawn largely and then we never did put in place a revolver up at the parent.
<Q>: Great. Okay. Thank you very much.

 

 


 

Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Mm hmm.
Operator
Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press *1 on your telephone keypad. Callers in the queue are requested to limit their number of questions to one primary and one followup question. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our next question is from Bob Clutterbuck of Clutterbuck funds. Please state your question.
<Q>: Hi Keith, how are you?
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Good Bob.
<Q>: And sorry I missed the very beginning of the call so if you’ve already answered this don’t answer it again but could you give any insight or commentary on where we stand on potentially increasing reserves?
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
No, I did not comment on it but I am glad you did ask the question. We made it a priority for 2011 to in fact increase reserves. I think sometime here during the second quarter we will probably be in a position to announce some specifics around that but virtually all of our operations, we have been diligently moving towards adding on to the reserve base as we have. As you know, what we tend to do is match reserve acquisition with underlying contracts but there are also other opportunistic situations that we try to exploit but as soon as we have more specifics we will disclose those and I would suspect there in Q2 sometime or at least by this time next, or it will be third quarter of course when we announce Q2 results so I would suspect by the next quarterly call we will have some more detail around that. Something I did not mention that of course has been covered with an 8-K and a press release was the move to NASDAQ here a couple of weeks back and that we consider that to be an extremely positive thing for our shareholders when that occurred.
<Q>: Okay, terrific. Thanks Keith.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Yep, thanks Bob.
Operator

As a reminder ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, you may press *1 on your telephone keypad. Callers in queue are asked to limit their number of questions to one primary and one followup question. One moment please while we poll for questions. Our next question is coming from the line of Charles Fisher of LF Partners. Please state your question.
<Q>: Good morning Keith. I was wondering if you can give us some color on the outlook for additional coal sales either at Absaloka or some of the other mines?

 

 


 

Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Yeah, certainly at Colstrip, Beulah and Jewett, those are driven primarily and almost exclusively by the demand of the associated power plant. So you know we make our projections at the beginning of the year as I indicated. You know, you don’t know what hydro season might look like this year, it’s running a little longer at Colstrip and of course the next thing you turn the corner and you wonder what the summer is going to look like. Depending on the summer, you could see a little bit extra volume. I think our people have budgeted pretty conservatively for the summer, so if we had a pretty hot summer, we might see more than what we have projected. The real opportunity for additional coal sales is as you indicated up at Absaloka. I think we’ve talked about it over the last two quarters that we are hoping to get the Western Y put in some time this year and do some test shipments to some potential customers to the west but there’s nothing imminent there. We continue as I am sure all other coal companies do, get enquiries from international markets. That activity has heated up, particularly after the situation in Japan with the nuclear plants. Doug and his folks field calls on almost a daily basis. We sort through those leads. We try to figure out who is real and who is not. We are working with one party as we speak about trying to get some tonnage over to them to do some test burning but those again are long-term situations dependent upon port capacity and things like that. So over the back half of this year, I don’t look for any major additions, but I hope to make some progress in terms of identifying some customers for 2012 and 2013. One thing that we are actively doing is looking over the landscape and determining whether we think there are other mines that look like the mines we operate today that would make nice additions to our portfolio of assets. During the last 90 days we in fact looked at one that on the surface looked like it might be a fit for us, but at the end of the day, for a variety of reasons, including valuation issues, we chose not to pursue. But we will continue to be active looking at potential there. I think that’s more likely to be where substantial growth would come from. Any growth we would get at Absaloka would be in the million ton range. It wouldn’t be substantial in the short term.
<Q>: Thanks Keith.
Operator
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Alessi for further comments.
Keith Alessi — Westmoreland Coal Company — President & CEO
Thanks. I suspected that we wouldn’t get a lot of questions this quarter because our business model is pretty predictable and pretty steady at this point so we appreciate everybody joining us this morning. We will be talking in about 90 days.
Operator
This concludes today’s investor conference call. If you would like to access this call for digital replay, you may dial 877-660-6853 using account number 286 and conference ID number 371616. Thank you.

 

 

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