TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s largest diversified miner Teck Resources on Tuesday said its adjusted net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 declined by 40% on the impact of sharply lower coal prices.

Adjusted profit, which excluded one-time items, was C$328-million or C$0.56 a share, compared with C$544-million or C$0.93 a share in the same period a year earlier. The lower adjusted profit was mainly owing to coal prices having declined by 28% to C$161/t from the same period a year earlier, and the company’s other significant product, copper, having also declined by 5% to C$3.60/lb in the same period.

Profit attributable to shareholders in the first quarter was C$319-million or C$0.55 a share, compared with C$258-million or C$0.44 per share in the same period last year. The effect of new accounting standards for waste removal costs increased profit attributable to shareholders by C$53-million or C$0.09 a share.

Revenues from operations were C$2.3-billion, compared with C$2.5-billion a year earlier. Revenues from the company’s copper business unit decreased by C$69-million compared with a year ago, owing to lower copper prices and lower contributions from by-products.

Coal revenues decreased by C$138-million compared with the first quarter of 2012, as a result of significantly lower coal prices, despite sales volumes increasing by 1.3-million tonnes to 6.58-million tonnes. Revenues from the zinc business unit remained similar to the same period a year earlier.

Teck expected total coal sales in the second quarter, including spot sales, to be at or above six-million tonnes, but added the market was extremely volatile.

“We continue to experience volatile markets for our products. Commodity markets have historically been volatile, prices can change rapidly and customers can alter shipment plans, which can have a substantial impact on our business. The uncertainty over the ongoing economic conditions may affect both prices and shipments to our customers,” Teck CEO Don Lindsay told an analyst conference call.

The company planned to produce about 24.5-million tonnes of metallurgical coal this year and 350 000 t of copper.

Teck had about C$2.95-billion cash in the bank as at March 31.

Lindsay added the company was not currently planning a significant takeover, following media sources recently speculating Teck was in a potential position to bid for Rio Tinto's iron-ore assets in Eastern Canada.

"There has been a lot of speculation about us pursuing major M&A transactions and I can tell you this is grossly overblown," Lindsay said.

Teck also reported its financing costs were down 40% as a result of its debt refinancing transactions undertaken last year, which reduced its average interest rate to 4.8% from 7.5%.

The company’s NYSE-listed stock traded 2.60% lower at $24.69 apiece on Tuesday afternoon.