In 2016, Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B; NYSE:TECK), B.C.’s largest mining company, did not even make Business in Vancouver’s Top 100 Most Profitable Companies List, due to a commodities price crash that resulted in the company recording a $3.6 billion impairment and posting a $2.5 billion loss in 2015.
Two years later, it’s No. 1 – a position it last held in 2012, at the end of a commodities supercycle – based on its 2017 net profits. Teck ended 2017 with record revenue of $12 billion and record cash flow of $5.1 billion. According to Teck’s annual audited financial statements for 2017, the company posted $2.5 billion net profit compared with 2016’s $1 billion.
While that jump back onto the top spot has something to do with a recovery in commodity prices, it also has a lot to do with the way the company is structured and the way it positions itself.
Teck’s basic operating principle is to build for the long term, expect the bottom to fall out of commodities and position itself in the right spot to catch the next upturn.
Continuity in the company’s upper echelons – with Don Lindsay serving as CEO since 2005 and Norman Keevil serving as chairman since 2001 – helps the company stick to its long-term plans.
For the rest of this article: https://biv.com/article/2018/11/teck-resources-back-black-and-back-top-100-list