Teck Resources Ltd. reported first-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates as Canada’s largest diversified miner cut costs to offset the impact of lower commodity prices.
Profit attributable to shareholders was C$94 million ($74 million) compared with C$68 million a year earlier, the Vancouver-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Excluding one-time items, Teck posted earnings of 3 Canadian cents a share, beating the 3-cent loss estimated by 19 analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Steelmaking coal unit costs, including transportation charges, fell 9.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, to C$77 a metric ton, while copper cash-unit costs after by-product credits declined 16 percent to $1.29 per pound. “Our operations performed well by reducing our costs while maintaining production volumes,” Chief Executive Officer Don Lindsay said in the statement.
“Notwithstanding that the commodity cycle continues to be challenging, we are encouraged by the change in direction in steelmaking coal and zinc prices.”
Teck shares in New York were little change before the start of regular trading Tuesday.
The company’s stock has more than doubled this year and may climb further if zinc and metallurgical-coal prices continue to strengthen, according to Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Clarksons Platou Securities Inc.
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