Thompson Creek Metals Announces $34-million Debt Repurchase

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TSX:TCM,NYSE:TC) announced that during Q2 2015 it repurchased and retired $34.2 million worth of its 9.75-percent senior secured notes due December 1, 2017. It did so at an average purchase price of 1.07 percent of the notes’ par value.
As quoted in the press release:

Total cash used was approximately $37.8 million, inclusive of the payment of accrued interest to the repurchase date of $1.2 million. Future interest savings from this repurchase to the December 2015 call date will be approximately $0.8 million, representing a net average purchase price of 1.024% of par compared to the call price of 1.04875% of par, with future interest savings to the December 2017 maturity date of $8.2 million. Since the completion of the Mount Milligan Mine to June 30, 2015, the Company has repaid and retired 12% of its debt balance, or approximately $121 million, including the net repayments of its capital lease obligations. The Company’s target is to reduce its debt over time to approximately three times earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) for a twelve month period.
The Company’s June 30, 2015 cash and cash equivalents balance was approximately $211 million, compared to $238 million at March 31, 2015. Excluding the impact of the notes repurchase announced herein, the Company’s cash balance increased by approximately $10 million during the second quarter of 2015.

Jacques Perron, president and CEO of Thompson Creek, commented:

During the second quarter we saw continual operational improvements at Mount Milligan, which we believe will continue throughout the remainder of the year. Based on this assessment and our strong cash position, we were able to deploy capital for additional bond repurchases as part of our plan to reduce our debt. We believe these additional bond repurchases illustrate our continuing ability to take advantage of opportunities in the financial markets to proactively strengthen and delever our balance sheet. We will continue to actively evaluate and execute our debt reduction and refinancing measures to reduce interest costs and to extend the maturities of our bonds.

Click here to read the full Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TSX:TCM,NYSE:TC) press release.