Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) Q1 2022 Results Conference Call April 28, 2022 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Alice Tharenos - VP, IR

Jim Grech - President and CEO

Mark Spurbeck - CFO

Conference Call Participants

David Gagliano - BMO Capital Markets

Lucas Pipes - B. Riley Securities

Nathan Martin - The Benchmark Company

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Peabody Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following today’s presentation instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, April 28, 2022.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Alice Tharenos. Please go ahead.

Alice Tharenos

Good morning, and thanks for joining Peabody’s earnings call for the first quarter of 2022.

With me today are President and CEO, Jim Grech; and CFO, Mark Spurbeck. 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, Alice, and good morning, everyone.

In the first quarter, we set the stage to realize strong results for the remainder of the year. Our operations performed well given the operational and logistical issues faced. And with strong market dynamics persisting for our products globally, we are poised to deliver a strong 2022.

During the quarter, we overcame production and logistic challenges in Australia related to record rainfall and COVID-induced labor shortages and instituted a recovery plan to recapture volumes over the remainder of the year. While progressing efforts to increase volumes at our U.S. mines, we strengthened the balance sheet and mitigated financial risks. And we advanced several strategic initiatives with the launch of R3 Renewables, progression of our U.S. sales strategies and expansion plans for the seaborne platform.

Our focus remains to advance actions to position the Company to be resilient in all market cycles by capturing expanded margins through production and sales strategies, while remaining long-term cost competitive and reducing our debt levels.

Before I expand on the quarter, I would like to thank our global employees for their continued focus on working safely and efficiently, particularly given distractions from weather, COVID, labor shortages and logistical challenges.

Our success is a result of the dedication and efforts of our talented workforce. I’d like to specifically highlight the significant achievement of the Shoal Creek and Francisco prep plant teams, who both have now gone over four years without a reportable injury.