Stuart McDonald
Analyst · Scotiabank. Your line is open
Okay. Thanks and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to report Taseko's annual and fourth quarter results yesterday. As Russ noted, it's been a very successful year for the company. Adjusted EBITDA of $162 million, and GAAP net income of $34 million for the year. Over the year, we saw strengthening copper prices, higher metal production and lower unit costs. This resulted in operating cash flows of $211 million, including the proceeds of the silver stream in March. We applied some of that cash to complete our refinancing in June, which reduced our long-term debt, while also extending the maturity data from 2019 to 2022. So it was a good year from a financial standpoint, although, the fourth quarter results did not match what we achieved in the first three quarters. The increased use of lower grade ore stockpiles stemming from the wildfires in July resulted in lower copper production and sales in Q4. And the drawdown of the ore stockpile inventory resulted in a non-cash inventory expense and additional depreciation, which reduced earnings by $10.6 million or $0.05 per share. So overall fourth quarter earnings from mine operations before depreciation were $33 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $29 million, which is lower than the average quarterly EBITDA of $44 million that we achieved in the first three quarters. Copper sales volumes were 32 million pounds, which was higher than mine production of 25.5 million, as we were successful and reducing our concentrate inventory levels. Our realized copper sales price was $3.30 per pound, which was higher than the LME average price of $3.09, because of provisional pricing adjustments at quarter-end. And moly prices also continue to strengthen recently going over $12 per pound. This is an important byproduct for Gibraltar, representing a credit $0.17 per pound produced for the quarter. Overall, gross revenues for the quarter were $103 million based on our 75% share of Gibraltar volumes. On the cost side, our total site spending continues to be fairly consistent, but our operating costs per pound increased because of lower copper production, coming in at US$2.11 per pound. We also capitalized $17 million of mining cost in the fourth quarter related to stripping activity, new section of the Granite pit. Other significant items on the fourth quarter P&L include a $3.8 million write-down of an investment, a $2 million foreign exchange loss on U.S. dollar denominated debt, and $1.6 million derivative loss due to increasing copper prices. The GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter was $7.6 million or $0.03 per share. The adjusted net loss was $1.5 million or $0.01 per share, and excludes the unrealized FX, the write-down of the investment and unrealized derivative losses. Looking at fourth quarter cash flows, we generated $32 million of positive cash flow from operating activities. This was offset by capital expenditures of $28 million, which include capitalized stripping costs of $17 million, other sustaining capital of $3.5 million at Gibraltar, and $5 million of construction costs at Florence, which primarily relates to wellfield development. In December, we also made the first interest payment on our senior secured notes in the amount of $14 million, and we made $4 million of capital lease payments in the fourth quarter as well. We ended the year with $80 million of cash on the balance sheet, down from $95 million at the end of Q3, and the current metal price, as we expect to grow our cash balance over the course of 2018, although, Florence project spending is weighted towards first part of the year, so we may see a temporary decline in our cash balance in the next few months. We're also working on an insurance claim related to the business interruption that we experienced during December wildfires. And while the amount isn't finalized yet, we expect the claim could be in the range of $3 million to $10 million. And with that, I'll turn it back to Russ.