Peabody Energy – owners of the Wilpinjong mine – this week announced that it has emerged from Chapter 11 protection with a transformed capital structure including new equity.
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The company also began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, under the ticker symbol BTU.
The company stated that in the past year they’ve reduced debt by more than $5 billion from pre-filing levels at March 2016.
Peabody president and chief executive officer Glenn Kellow said in a statement, “we thank our 6,700 employees and all stakeholders for their widespread support for the company and our plan of re-organisation”.
“We look forward to this next phase in our company’s history,” he said.
“Coal remains an essential part of the energy mix, and Peabody is the largest US coal producer while our Australian platform has access to the higher-growth Asia-Pacific region.
“We believe that ‘The New BTU’ is well positioned to create substantial value for shareholders and other stakeholders over time.
“Our financial focus will now be on reducing debt, targeting high-return investments and returning cash to shareholders over time.”
Last year Wilpinjong general manager, Blair Jackson, said it was “business as usual” for the local operation as the bankruptcy proceedings took place.
“We've just got to make sure we continue running a safe and efficient operation,” he said.
“Our commitment to the area hasn't wavered at all, nor has it to; our [semi-autonomous dozer] technology, the Wilpinjong extension project which we're in the process of gaining approval for and expect that towards the end of this year/early next year.
“It's a long term vision and we're talking about being here in 2033 and that still has not changed.
“We've got long term domestic contracts that don't run out until 2026, we've got export commitments that don't run out until 2033, and we've committed to all of those dates without any problem at all.
“We're a subsidiary, to some degree off to the side, so as far as we're concerned we're operating business as usual.”
The announcement comes days before a Planning and Assessment Commission public hearing on the Wilpinjong extension project.
In March, the NSW Department of Planning released its final Assessment Report for the project recommending that it proceed.
The public hearing will be held at the Mudgee Town Hall Theatre, 64 Market Street, Mudgee, at 10.30am, Tuesday, April 11.
