NEW YORK, September 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

ACI Association has initiated research coverage on Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI). Select highlights from the internally released reports are being made available to the general public (included below), with access to the entirety of the research available to new members.

Today, membership is open to readers on a complementary basis at the following URL: http://www.aciassociation.com/reports?keyword=ACI

Highlights from our ACI Report include: 


        
        - Second Quarter and First Half Earnings Highlights - On July 30, 2015, Arch Coal,
          Inc. announced its financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2015.
          For the quarter, the Company generated revenues of $644.5 million as compared to
          $713.8 million in Q2 FY14. The Company reported a net loss of $168.1 million during
          the quarter or a diluted loss per share of 79 cents vis-a-vis a net loss of $96.9
          million or 46 cents per diluted share in Q2 FY14. For the first half, the Company
          generated revenues of $1,321.5 million as compared to revenues of $1,449.7 million
          reported in the previous year period. Net loss for the period amounted to $281.3
          million or $1.32 per diluted share versus a loss of $221 million or $1.04 per diluted
          share reported in H1 FY14.
        - Operational Performance - Arch Coal sold 30.6 million tons during the reported quarter
          at an average sales price per ton of $19.65. This compares to 32.7 million tons sold
          in the preceding quarter at an average sales price per ton of $20.34. During the
          quarter, the Company's Powder River Basin cash margin per ton decreased 11%
          sequentially to $2.25 per ton. The decline was attributed to the lower average selling
          price per ton which reflects lower contracted pricing, particularly on indexed volumes,
          and a larger percentage of lower-quality tons in Arch's regional sales mix. In
          Appalachia, the cash margin per ton decreased to $2.97 per ton versus $12.82 per ton
          in Q1. However, the Bituminous Thermal region experienced an increase of 21% in its
          cash margin per ton to $10.22 per ton over Q1 figures. The increase was chiefly due to
          a 19% decrease in cash cost per ton which was driven by strong cost control across the
          segment as well as increased volume levels at the lower-cost West Elk mine.
        - Management Commentary and Outlook - Discussing the results, John W. Eaves, the
          Chairman and CEO of the Company, said, "Arch continues to weather the significant
          market challenges facing the industry. Even with the lowest shipment level experienced
          by Arch in more than five years and shipping challenges in the Powder River Basin, our
          operations continued to do an outstanding job of managing costs in this environment.
          In fact, all of our operating regions were cash flow positive during the first half of
          this year, a position we think sets us apart from our competitors." As a result of
          challenging market conditions, the Company has lowered the high end of its thermal
          guidance. It now expects thermal sales volumes for 2015 to be in the range of 120
          million tons to 124 million tons.

To find out how this influences our rating on Arch Coal Inc. read the full report in its entirety here: http://www.aciassociation.com/reports?keyword=ACI

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