Alpha Natural Resources swings to quarterly loss amid Merger costs (ANR)

11/3/2009 - Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) reported Q3 EPS of $0.47, ex-items, beating consensus analyst estimates of $0.38.

Revenue for the quarter rose 5.9% year-over-year to $729.2 million, coming out ahead of consensus estimates of $727.9 million.

CEO Kevin Chrutchfield said, "Alpha's strong third quarter 2009 performance is particularly noteworthy in light of the continued weakness in the domestic thermal coal market and the fact that we closed our merger with Foundation Coal at the end of July, creating the third largest U.S. coal company by most measurements."

The company increased its 2010 shipment guidance for metallurgical coal from its previous range of 9-11 million tons to the updated range of 10-12 million tons. As demand improves, Alpha said it is capable of ramping up production to 90 million tons of coal annually.

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

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