Westmoreland CEO Addresses Shareholder Letter
Westmoreland Coal Company (NasdaqGM: WLB, “Westmoreland”), and its Chief Executive Officer Keith E. Alessi, received a letter dated July 26, 2015, from Mr. Charles Frischer of LF Partners. "I am in receipt of Mr. Charles Frischer’s letter in which he directs numerous suggestions to me and the board of directors of Westmoreland," stated Mr. Alessi. "The Board and I always welcome the constructive input of major shareholders and, being focused on both the strategic needs of the business and the long term value to our investors, we will certainly give Mr. Frischer's suggestions consideration. We are acutely aware of the negative market sentiments caused by the failure of other coal companies. We will continue to tell the Westmoreland story centered on long-term contracted positions and a cash generating model, versus our industry’s more common commodity price driven model. We remain focused on safe and efficient production."
"In our recent earnings call, there was confusion caused by the answer to a question concerning our intentions of how we plan to finance the previously announced acquisition of the San Juan mine in Farmington, New Mexico. As I mentioned on the call, the transaction must first be approved by the New Mexico Public Service Commission. Assuming this approval is received, the deal will close on December 31, 2015,” explained Mr. Alessi. “To be clear, it has never been our intent to finance this contemplated transaction through the issuance of equity.”
Mr. Alessi continued, “We remain focused on executing our business model. As we have successfully done in the past, I believe that we can continue to prudently grow the business in an accretive fashion."
About Westmoreland Coal Company
Westmoreland Coal Company is the oldest independent coal company in the United States. Westmoreland’s coal operations include sub-bituminous and lignite surface coal mining in the Western United States and Canada, an underground bituminous coal mine in Ohio, a char production facility, and a 50% interest in an activated carbon plant. Westmoreland also owns the general partner of and a majority interest in Westmoreland Resource Partners, LP, formerly Oxford Resource Partners, LP, a publicly-traded coal master limited partnership. Its power operations include ownership of the two-unit ROVA coal-fired power plant in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.westmoreland.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects” and similar references to future periods. These statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause actual results to differ materially from results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Westmoreland’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect on the company. These forward-looking statements and other information are based on Westmoreland’s beliefs as well as assumptions made by it using information currently available. Such statements reflect Westmoreland’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or intended. Westmoreland is making investors aware that such forward-looking statements, because they relate to future events, are by their very nature subject to many important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risks that are described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Westmoreland’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Westmoreland undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Contact
Westmoreland Coal Company
Kevin Paprzycki, 855-922-6463
