Even as Alpha Natural Resources
Barely more than a year has passed since the horrific explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine took the lives of 29 miners, and further soiled a Massey legacy already tarnished by prior environmental and safety concerns.
Now, in a parting blow to miners and shareholders alike, Massey has been cited for a slew of safety violations at the Randolph mine in West Virginia, which a regulator characterized as "nothing short of outrageous." In a surprise visit, inspectors found miners so covered in coal dust as to place workers "at serious risk to the threat of fire, explosion and black lung." It seems the Massey name cannot go away fast enough, and Alpha shareholders must now recognize that integrating these operations in a way that ensures their future safety may present a challenging task.
Massey also managed to rain on Alpha's earnings parade. Alpha turned in an enviable 256% increase in net earnings for the first quarter, recording profit of $49.8 million. Boosted by strong met coal pricing, and a 37% increase in met coal sales volume to reach 3.6 million tons, Alpha realized a 23% increase in revenue and a slight improvement in consolidated coal margin. In contrast, Massey reported a $0.07-per-share loss for the period, which was not quite in the same galaxy as the $0.39-per-share result that analysts anticipated.
While Massey may be leaving a decidedly sour taste for now, Alpha may yet savor its just deserts. After all, Massey's immense treasure of 1.3 billion tons in met coal reserves will now be matched with a proven management team eager to realize rapid expansion of production capacity from Massey's mines toward the 20-million-ton mark that Massey had previously targeted for 2015. Alpha's current annual capacity is about 14 million tons, and I don't think I need to remind Fools just how profitable met coal production of more than 30 million tons per year could be within the strong price environment of a long-term global supercycle (as Peabody Energy
- Add Alpha Natural Resources to My Watchlist
- Add Massey Energy to My Watchlist
- Add Peabody Energy to My Watchlist
- Add Walter Energy to My Watchlist
- Add Arch Coal to My Watchlist