Warrior Met Coal Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results

Met or exceeded all guidance targets for the full year

Continued to make excellent progress in developing its world-class Blue Creek growth project

Outlines favorable guidance for 2025

Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) ("Warrior" or the "Company") today announced results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2024. Warrior is the leading dedicated U.S.-based producer and exporter of high-quality steelmaking coal for the global steel industry.

Warrior reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2024 of $1.1 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to net income of $128.9 million, or $2.47 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted net income per share for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $0.15 per diluted share compared to $2.49 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Company reported Adjusted EBITDA of $53.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $163.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

For the full year, Warrior reported net income of $250.6 million and adjusted net income of $257.7 million, or net income of $4.79 per diluted share and adjusted net income of $4.92 per diluted share in 2024, compared to net income of $478.6 million and adjusted net income of $498.9 million, or net income of $9.20 per diluted share and adjusted net income of $9.59 per diluted share, in 2023. The Company reported Adjusted EBITDA of $447.9 million for the full year 2024 compared to $698.9 million for the full year 2023.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year Highlights

• Recorded 6% increase in sales volumes and 8% increase in production volumes for the full year, run rates not seen since 2019 and record high annual production for Mine 4 of 2.8 million short tons;
• Generated $367.4 million of cash from operating activities during 2024, enabling the second highest annual amount spent on capital expenditures and mine development of $488.3 million for the growth of the business;
• Began production at the world-class Blue Creek growth project on time and on budget;
• Commenced two additional continuous miner units at Blue Creek in the fourth quarter for a total of three developing the first longwall panel and produced 209 thousand short tons from the mine for the year;
• Completed the installation of the clean coal storage silos at the rail loadout at Blue Creek, began construction on the dry slurry processing system, and made significant progress on the preparation plant, the overland clean coal belt and the barge loadout in the fourth quarter. All remaining development progress milestones remain on track, with the preparation plant expected to be completed in the middle of 2025 and the longwall startup is expected no later than the second quarter of 2026;
• Invested $104.1 million in the continued development of Blue Creek, which brings the year-to-date project spend to $350.5 million and the total project spend to $716.5 million, all self-funded; and
• Provided favorable company performance outlook in 2025 guidance, despite expected weak market conditions.

"During the fourth quarter of 2024, we delivered a strong operational and financial performance despite high-quality steelmaking coal prices reaching the lowest levels since 2021 due to a confluence of excess Chinese steel exports into our customers' markets, weaker demand and ample supply of steelmaking coals," said Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior. "Looking back over the last twelve months, 2024 was an extremely successful year for our company as we met or exceeded all guidance targets, achieved sales and production volume run rates not seen since 2019 and produced the first tons from our world-class Blue Creek growth project. We also generated cash from operations of $367.4 million in 2024, which was used to both further the development of Blue Creek and return $43.8 million to stockholders via dividends."

"Since the launch of the development of Blue Creek nearly three years ago, the project team continues to do an excellent job of managing capital spending and staying on schedule," Scheller said. "Importantly, we remain confident with our total project capital expenditure estimate of $995 million to $1.075 billion to complete the project. Blue Creek has started to take delivery of the longwall shields, and we expect to have all shields on site in the first half of 2025. In addition, all major preparation plant equipment is on-site awaiting installation. We continue to expect that Blue Creek will be a significant and exciting driver of our next stage of growth when global steel prices rebound."

With the addition of Blue Creek, Warrior expects to increase its annual High Vol A production by 4.8 million short tons, enhance its already advantageous position on the global cost curve, drive its cash costs further into the first quartile globally, improve its profitability and cash flow generation and cement its position as a leading pure play steelmaking coal producer.

Operating Results

Sales volumes in the fourth quarter of 2024 were 1.9 million short tons, compared to 1.5 million short tons in the fourth quarter of 2023, representing a 23% increase. The sales mix from Mine No. 4 was abnormally 8% higher than the prior year comparable period. Sales volumes for the full year 2024 were 8.0 million short tons, or an increase of 6% compared to 2023, which was near the high end of our guidance range. The higher sales volumes were driven by higher production from both Mine No. 4 and Mine No. 7 operating at higher capacity levels in 2024 compared to 2023.

The Company produced 2.1 million short tons of met coal in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to 2.0 million short tons in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year 2024, the Company produced 8.2 million short tons, or an increase of 8% compared to 2023, which exceeded our guidance for the full year and achieved run rates last achieved in 2019. Mine 4 achieved record high annual production and Blue Creek produced 209 thousand short tons. Inventory levels increased to 1.1 million short tons at the end of December 31, 2024 from 915 thousand short tons as of September 30, 2024, primarily due to steelmaking coal production from Blue Creek.

Additional Financial Results

Total revenues were $297.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, which compares to total revenues of $363.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The average net selling price of the Company's steelmaking coal decreased 34% from $234.56 per short ton in the fourth quarter of 2023 to $154.54 per short ton in the fourth quarter of 2024 as a result of the weak pricing environment. Warrior's average gross selling price realization was approximately 86% of the Platts Premium Low Vol FOB Australian index price for the fourth quarter and 89% for the full year 2024.

For the full year 2024, total revenues were $1.5 billion, or a decrease of 9% compared to 2023, driven by a 14% decrease in our average net selling prices of the Company's steelmaking coal offset partially by a 6% increase in sales volumes.

Cost of sales for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $228.8 million compared to $186.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Cash cost of sales (free-on-board port) for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $225.6 million, or 77.4% of mining revenues, compared to $185.0 million, or 51.4% of mining revenues for the same period of 2023. Cash cost of sales (free-on-board port) per short ton decreased to $119.55 in the fourth quarter of 2024 from $120.69 in the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily attributable to lower steelmaking coal prices and its effect on our variable cost structure, primarily for wages, transportation and royalties. For the full year 2024, cash cost of sales (free-on-board port) per short ton was $125.29 and was at the low end of Warrior's guidance range.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $17.6 million, or 5.9% of total revenues and were higher than the same period last year of 3.6% of total revenues, primarily due to higher employee-related costs. For the full year 2024, selling, general and administrative expenses of $63.1 million were within Warrior's guidance range compared to $51.8 million in 2023.

Depreciation and depletion expense for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $39.2 million, or 13.2% of total revenues and were higher than the same period last year of 7.0% of total revenues primarily due to depreciation expense recognized on additional assets placed into service at Blue Creek. Warrior achieved net interest income of $6.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to net interest income of $7.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year 2024, interest income earned of $33.0 million exceeded Warrior's guidance range and interest expense of $4.3 million was within our guidance range.

Income tax expense was $0.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 on pre-tax income of $2.0 million compared to income tax expense of $12.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Our effective income tax rate for the full year 2024 was approximately 12% compared to 13% in 2023.

Cash Flow and Liquidity

The Company generated cash flows from operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2024 of $54.2 million, compared to $245.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Capital expenditures and mine development for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $142.2 million, primarily reflecting the development of the Blue Creek growth project. Capital expenditures for the development of Blue Creek were $104.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, $350.5 million for the full year 2024, which was within our guidance range, and $716.5 million project-to-date. Free cash flows in the fourth quarter of 2024 were negative $88.0 million compared to free cash flows of $62.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Net working capital, excluding cash, for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by $2.5 million from the third quarter of 2024, primarily reflecting lower net accounts payable, higher inventories and lower steelmaking coal prices.

Cash flows used in financing activities for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $3.5 million, primarily due to payments of financing lease obligations of $4.7 million and the payment of the regular quarterly dividend of $3.3 million offset by proceeds received from financing lease obligations of $4.5 million.

The Company generated $367.4 million of cash flows from operating activities for the full year 2024 compared to $701.1 million in 2023. Capital expenditures and mine development costs for the full year 2024 were $488.3 million, which was within our guidance range. Cash flows used in financing activities for the full year 2024 were $68.5 million, primarily due to the payment of regular and special cash dividends of $43.8 million and payments on capital lease obligations of $17.4 million.

The existing operations, excluding the investments made for Blue Creek, generated strong cash flows from operations of $367.4 million and free cash flows of $260.5 million (cash flow from operations of $367.4 million less existing operations capital expenditures of $106.9 million) in 2024 that funded our future growth while returning cash to stockholders in the medium term.

The Company's total liquidity as of December 31, 2024 was $654.7 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $491.5 million, short-term investments of $5.1 million, net of $9.5 million posted as collateral, long-term investments of $44.6 million and available liquidity under its Second Amended and Restated Credit Facility (the "ABL Facility") of $113.5 million.

Capital Allocation

On February 11, 2025, the Board of Directors (the "Board") declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share, which the Company plans to distribute on March 3, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 24, 2025.

Any future special dividends or stock repurchases from excess cash flows will be at the discretion of the Board and subject to consideration of several factors including business and market conditions, future financial performance, and other strategic investment opportunities. The Company will also seek to optimize its capital structure to improve returns to stockholders while allowing flexibility for the Company to pursue very selective strategic growth opportunities that can provide compelling stockholder returns.

Company Outlook

The Company's outlook for 2025 is subject to many risks that may impact performance, such as market conditions in the steel and steelmaking coal industries and overall global economic and competitive conditions, all as more fully described under Forward-Looking Statements. The Company's guidance for the full year 2025 is outlined below.

Key factors that may affect outlook include:

• Three planned longwall moves (one in Q2 and two in Q3),
• HCC index pricing, geography of sales and freight rates,
• Exclusion of other non-recurring costs,
• New labor contract, and
• Inflationary pressures.

The Company's guidance for its capital expenditures consists of sustaining capital spending of approximately $90-$100 million, including regulatory gas requirements and final 4 North bunker construction, and discretionary capital spending of $225-$250 million for the development of the Blue Creek reserves.

The Company's production and sales guidance contains approximately 1.0 million short tons of High Vol A steelmaking coal in 2025 from the continuous miner units from the Blue Creek reserves, which are expected to be sold in the second half of 2025 when the preparation plant comes online.

Environmental, Social and Governance Sustainability

The Company recently published its annual corporate environmental, social and governance sustainability report for 2024, which is located at http://www.warriormetcoal.com/corporate-sustainability/. The report was prepared in accordance with the codified standards of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. The Company is committed to transparency and open conversations surrounding environmental, social and governance topics. Although Warrior's underground steelmaking coal operations have a minimal environmental impact compared to surface-mined thermal coal, the Company strives to be an environmental steward by focusing on preservation of the environment, monitoring energy use, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and effective land reclamation.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains the use of certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided as supplemental information for financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide additional insights into the performance of the Company, and they reflect how management analyzes Company performance and compares that performance against other companies. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other entities. The definition of these non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures is provided in the financial tables section of this release.

Conference Call

The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter 2024 results today, February 13, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. ET. To listen to the event live or access an archived recording, please visit http://investors.warriormetcoal.com/. Analysts and investors who would like to participate in the conference call should dial 1-844-340-9047 (domestic) or 1-412-858-5206 (international) 10 minutes prior to the start time and reference the Warrior Met Coal conference call. Telephone playback will also be available from 6:30 p.m. ET February 13, 2025, until 6:30 p.m. ET on February 20, 2025. The replay will be available by calling: 1-877-344-7529 (domestic) or 1-412-317-0088 (international) and entering passcode 8614909.

About Warrior

Warrior is a U.S.-based, environmentally and socially minded supplier to the global steel industry. It is dedicated entirely to mining non-thermal metallurgical (met) steelmaking coal used as a critical component of steel production by metal manufacturers in Europe, South America and Asia. Warrior is a large-scale, low-cost producer and exporter of premium quality met coal, also known as hard-coking coal (HCC), operating highly efficient longwall operations in its underground mines based in Alabama. The HCC that Warrior produces from the Blue Creek coal seam contains very low sulfur and has strong coking properties. The premium nature of Warrior's HCC makes it ideally suited as a base feed coal for steel makers. For more information, please visit www.warriormetcoal.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, and the Company's officers and representatives may from time to time make, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding 2025 guidance, sales and production growth, ability to maintain cost structure, demand, pricing trends, profitability and cash flow generation, management of liquidity, and expenses, competitive advantage, the Company's future ability to create value for stockholders, as well as statements regarding inflationary pressures, the terms of any new labor contract, expected capital expenditures, and the development of, and anticipated production from, the Blue Creek project. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "project," "target," "foresee," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "outlook," "guidance" or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements represent management's good faith expectations, projections, guidance, or beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the results described in this press release will not be achieved. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of the Company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, fluctuations or changes in the pricing or demand for the Company's coal (or met coal generally) by the global steel industry; the impact of global pandemics, such as the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, on its business and that of its customers, including the risk of a decline in demand for the Company's met coal due to the impact of any such pandemic on steel manufacturers; the impact of inflation on the Company, the impact of geopolitical events, including the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war; the inability of the Company to effectively operate its mines and the resulting decrease in production; the inability of the Company to transport its products to customers due to rail performance issues or the impact of weather and mechanical failures at the McDuffie Terminal at the Port of Mobile; federal and state tax legislation; changes in interpretation or assumptions and/or updated regulatory guidance regarding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; legislation and regulations relating to the Clean Air Act and other environmental initiatives; regulatory requirements associated with federal, state and local regulatory agencies, and such agencies' authority to order temporary or permanent closure of the Company's mines; operational, logistical, geological, permit, license, labor and weather-related factors, including equipment, permitting, site access, operational risks and new technologies related to mining and labor strikes or slowdowns; the timing and impact of planned longwall moves; the Company's obligations surrounding reclamation and mine closure; inaccuracies in the Company's estimates of its met coal reserves; any projections or estimates regarding Blue Creek, including the expected returns from this project, if any, and the ability of Blue Creek to enhance the Company's portfolio of assets, the Company's expectations regarding its future tax rate as well as its ability to effectively utilize its net operating losses to reduce or eliminate its cash taxes; the Company's ability to develop Blue Creek; the Company's ability to develop or acquire met coal reserves in an economically feasible manner; significant cost increases and fluctuations, and delay in the delivery of raw materials, mining equipment and purchased components; competition and foreign currency fluctuations; fluctuations in the amount of cash the Company generates from operations, including cash necessary to pay any special or quarterly dividend; the Company's ability to comply with covenants in its ABL Facility or indenture relating to its senior secured notes; integration of businesses that the Company may acquire in the future; adequate liquidity and the cost, availability and access to capital and financial markets; failure to obtain or renew surety bonds on acceptable terms, which could affect the Company's ability to secure reclamation and coal lease obligations; costs associated with litigation, including claims not yet asserted; and other factors described in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. The Company's filings with the SEC are available on its website at www.warriormetcoal.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such factors.

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For Investors:

Dale W. Boyles, 205-554-6129

[email protected]

For Media:

D'Andre Wright, 205-554-6131

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