Preliminary Results Indicate All Company Nominees Elected to Walter Energy Board

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) (TSX: WLT) announced today that preliminary results provided by the Company’s proxy solicitor indicate that shareholders have elected all of the Company’s nominees to the Board of Directors at the Company’s annual meeting by a wide margin and have rejected all five of Audley Capital’s nominees.

Walter Energy Chairman Michael T. Tokarz and CEO and Director Walter J. Scheller III, said: “We are grateful for the support we received from our shareholders. We remain focused on further strengthening Walter Energy and building shareholder value. Our strategy is sound, our liquidity is strong, and our progress is real, despite the volatile met coal market and global economic uncertainty. We look forward to continuing a dialogue with all of our investors as we continue to execute our plan.”

IVS Associates, the independent inspector of election, will tabulate and certify the election results, and final results will be announced when they are certified.

Preliminary results indicate that the following ten directors have been elected: David R. Beatty, Mary R. Henderson, Jerry W. Kolb, Patrick A. Kriegshauser, Joseph B. Leonard, Graham Mascall, Bernard G. Rethore, Walter J. Scheller, III, Michael T. Tokarz, and A.J. Wagner.

On Proposal 2, the advisory proposal on executive compensation, preliminary results indicate it received a majority of the shares voted.

On Proposal 3, preliminary results indicate that the majority of shareholders have voted to ratify the Audit Committee’s appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2013.

Walter Energy said it would file with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K with the certified results promptly after they become available.


About Walter Energy

Walter Energy is a leading, publicly traded "pure-play" metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry with strategic access to high-growth steel markets in Asia, South America and Europe. The Company also produces thermal coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke and coal bed methane gas. Walter Energy employs approximately 4,100 employees and contractors with operations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. For more information about Walter Energy, please visit www.walterenergy.com.


Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on information available to management at the time, and they involve judgments and estimates. Forward-looking statements include expressions such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "will," and similar terms and expressions. These forward-looking statements are made based on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. The following factors are among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements: unfavorable economic, financial and business conditions; the global economic crisis; market conditions beyond our control; prolonged decline in the price of coal; decline in global coal or steel demand; prolonged or dramatic shortages or difficulties in coal production; our customer's refusal to honor or renew contracts; our ability to collect payments from our customers; inherent risks in coal mining such as weather patterns and conditions affecting production, geological conditions, equipment failure and other operational risks associated with mining; title defects preventing us from (or resulting in additional costs for) mining our mineral interests; concentration of our mining operations in limited number of areas; a significant reduction of, or loss of purchases by, our largest customers; unavailability of cost-effective transportation for our coal; availability, performance and costs of railroad, barge, truck and other transportation; disruptions or delays at the port facilities we use; risks associated with our reclamation and mine closure obligations, including failure to obtain or renew surety bonds; significant increase in competitive pressures and foreign currency fluctuations; significant cost increases and delays in the delivery of raw materials, mining equipment and purchased components; availability of adequate skilled employees and other labor relations matters; inaccuracies in our estimates of our coal reserves; estimates concerning economically recoverable coal reserves; greater than anticipated costs incurred for compliance with environmental liabilities or limitations on our abilities to produce or sell coal; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; future regulations that increase our costs or limit our ability to produce coal; new laws and regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that impact the demand for our coal reserves; adverse rulings in current or future litigation; inability to access needed capital; events beyond our control may result in an event of default under one or more of our debt instruments; availability of licenses, permits, and other authorizations may be subject to challenges; risks associated with our reclamation and mine closure obligations; failure to meet project development and expansion targets; risks associated with operating in foreign jurisdictions; risks related to our indebtedness and our ability to generate cash for our financial obligations; downgrade in our credit rating; our ability to identify suitable acquisition candidates to promote growth; our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; our exposure to indemnification obligations; volatility in the price of our common stock; our ability to pay regular dividends to stockholders; costs related to our post-retirement benefit obligations and workers' compensation obligations; our exposure to litigation; and other risks and uncertainties including those described in our filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements made by us in this release, or elsewhere, speak only as of the date on which the statements were made. You are advised to read the risk factors in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC, which are available on our website at www.walterenergy.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us or our anticipated results. We have no duty to, and do not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release, except as may be required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties, readers should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made in this press release may not occur. All data presented herein is as of the date of this release unless otherwise noted.



Contacts

Walter Energy, Inc.
For media: Ruth Pachman
212-521-4891
ruth-pachman@kekst.com or

For investors: Mark Tubb
205-745-2627
mark.tubb@walterenergy.com