Vancouver – Robust commodity prices continued to fuel Teck Cominco‘s (TCK.B-T, TCK-N) revenue engine, delivering strong third quarter net income of $504 million ($2.34 per share) versus $405 million ($2.00 per share) last year.
Coming on the heels of record second quarter income of $613 million the latest quarter pushes the company’s nine month earnings to $1.6 billion, almost doubling that turned in last year. Teck Cominco’s treasury (cash and short-term investments) was boosted by $243 million in Q3 to stand at $3.8 billion.
Strong copper and zinc prices (averaging US$3.48 and US$1.53 per lb. respectively in the third quarter) bolstered performance despite a weather-related shortfall in zinc concentrates shipped from the Red Dog mine in Alaska. Teck Cominco shifted some of the concentrate sales into the fourth quarter and early-2007.
The third quarter was marked by the company’s unsolicited bid for Inco expiring unsuccessful. However, Teck anticipates a pre-tax gain of $135 million in Q4 with net proceeds of about $430 million upon sale of its Inco shares to the winning suitor Companhia Vale do Rio Doce‘s (RIO-N).
The company also moved to quickly settle a potential labour disruption with unionized employees at its Highland Valley copper mine near Kamloops, B.C. A five-year collective agreement was ratified.
Shares of the Vancouver-based miner closed at the $82.50-level following its Q3 report. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $49.01-to-$87.75.
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