Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. on Thursday reported a first-quarter loss of $28.1 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The Company reported consolidated revenues of $462 million, an increase of 51% compared to the prior year’s first-quarter revenues of $306 million, as a result of increased sales volumes and seaborne iron ore prices. 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. For the first quarter of 2017, adjusted EBITDA was $92 million, a 156% increase compared to $36 million reported in the first quarter of 2016. Capital expenditures during the quarter were $28 million compared to $10 million in the prior-year quarter. The increase was driven primarily by spending related to the Mustang Project at the United Taconite mine. Based on the assumption that iron ore and steel prices will average for the remainder of 2017 their respective April month-to-date averages, Cliffs expects to generate approximately $380 million of net income and $700 million of adjusted EBITDA for the full-year 2017. This new outlook incorporates revised assumptions around Asia Pacific Iron Ore revenue realizations, which are impacted by the lower IODEX price, larger iron ore content discounts, and lower lump premiums.
