Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call July 27, 2023 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Karla Kimrey - Vice President of Investor Relations
Jim Grech - President and Chief Executive Officer
Mark Spurbeck - Chief Financial Officer
Malcolm Roberts - Chief Marketing Officer
Conference Call Participants
Lucas Pipes - B Riley
Nathan Martin - The Benchmark Company
Operator
Welcome to the Peabody Second Quarter Earnings Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions]. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] Please also note that this event is being recorded.
And at this time, I would now like to turn the conference over to Karla Kimrey, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Karla Kimrey
Good morning. And thank you for joining Peabody’s earnings call for the second quarter of 2023. With me today, our President and CEO Jim Grech, CFO Mark Spurbeck and our Chief Marketing Officer Malcolm Roberts.
Within the earnings release, you'll find our statement on forward-looking information as well as a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. We encourage you to consider the risk factors referenced there along with our public filings with the SEC.
I'll now turn the call over to Jim.
Jim Grech
Thanks, Karla. And good morning, everyone. In the second quarter of 2023, our unique diversified portfolio allowed us to successfully execute against our plan while operating in a volatile market environment. In the quarter, we initiated our annual shareholder return program with a fixed dividend and a meaningful share buyback plan. We returned $262 million through our shareholder return program in the last quarter.
Before I address the markets, I want to thank our global employees for their continued focus on working safely and efficiently. Now turning to the global coal markets, seaborne thermal coal markets remain volatile with prices declining during the second quarter. Comparatively high coal and natural gas inventories in the northern hemisphere following an unseasonably warm winter have weighed on demand leading to a weaker pricing environment for high energy thermal coals.
China's year-to-date thermal coal imports point to significant increases in consumption of seaborne thermal coal, with an annual thermal coal import run rate of approximately 400 million tons per year, representing approximately a 90% increase over 2022 levels. India too has shown signs of improved economic activity during the first half of 2023 and with it increased power demand and elevated coal imports.