Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. Reports First-Quarter 2017 Results

The Company recorded a net loss of $30 million in the first quarter, including a $72 million, or $0.27 per share, loss on extinguishment/restructuring of debt attributable to the liability management activities that reduced total debt by $550 million during the quarter. This compares to net income of $117 million recorded in the prior-year quarter. The net income recorded in the prior-year quarter included a $179 million gain on extinguishment/restructuring of debt.
Total debt at the end of the first quarter of 2017 was $1.6 billion, approximately $900 million lower than $2.5 billion total debt at the end of the prior-year quarter.  Cliffs had net debt of $1.3 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2017, compared to $2.4 billion of net debt³ at the end of the first quarter of 2016. The Company had no borrowings on its asset-based lending facility at the end of the first quarter of 2017 or 2016.
For the first quarter of 2017, adjusted EBITDA was $92 million, a 156 percent increase compared to $36 million reported in the first quarter of 2016.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO, said:

“During the first quarter, we put our finishing touches on what has been a remarkable operational, commercial and financial transformation of this company. Over the last two and half years, Cliffs has transformed itself into a lean and focused company, with a strong balance sheet and a lot less to pay in interest expense. This is particularly evident in our strong first quarter results, which exceeded our expectations in revenues, EBITDA and earnings per share. We expect 2017 to be a phenomenal year of EBITDA and free cash flow generation.”

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