Peabody Energy: PRB production ‘better than expected’ in Q3 2024

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Peabody Energy coal production in the Powder River Basin performed better than expected over the last few months, accounting for a sizeable chunk of the company’s most recent quarterly earnings.

According to the latest quarterly earnings report for Peabody Energy, Powder River Basin operations produced 22.1 million tons of coal, accounting for $51.7 million of the coal giant’s quarterly earnings of $224.8 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The levels seen from the PRB in the third quarter of 2024 dwarfed the previous quarter, which saw a production total of 15.8 million tons and Adjusted EBITDA of $17.8 million, per the report, which attributed the uptick to better-than-expected customer nominations with a continued focus on cost management.

This most recent quarter, Peabody Energy’s cost per ton of coal came in at $11.50, more than a dollar less than the previous quarter, according to the report.

Per Peabody Energy, other production areas of note this past quarter were the coal giant’s seaborn thermal segment, which produced 4.1 million tons, and the seaborne metallurgical segment, which produced 1.7 million tons — bringing in $120 million and $27.8 million in adjusted EBITDA, respectively.

Other U.S. thermal segments produced 4 million tons of coal, which brought in $28.4 million in adjusted EBITDA, Peabody Energy says. In total, the coal giant reported a net income attributable to common stockholders of $101.3 million, which is slightly less than the previous quarter.