Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) (TSX: WLT) announced today that
preliminary results provided by the Company’s proxy solicitor indicate
that shareholders have elected all of the Company’s nominees to the
Board of Directors at the Company’s annual meeting by a wide margin and
have rejected all five of Audley Capital’s nominees.
Walter Energy Chairman Michael T. Tokarz and CEO and Director Walter J.
Scheller III, said: “We are grateful for the support we received from
our shareholders. We remain focused on further strengthening Walter
Energy and building shareholder value. Our strategy is sound, our
liquidity is strong, and our progress is real, despite the volatile met
coal market and global economic uncertainty. We look forward to
continuing a dialogue with all of our investors as we continue to
execute our plan.”
IVS Associates, the independent inspector of election, will tabulate and
certify the election results, and final results will be announced when
they are certified.
Preliminary results indicate that the following ten directors have been
elected: David R. Beatty, Mary R. Henderson, Jerry W. Kolb, Patrick A.
Kriegshauser, Joseph B. Leonard, Graham Mascall, Bernard G. Rethore,
Walter J. Scheller, III, Michael T. Tokarz, and A.J. Wagner.
On Proposal 2, the advisory proposal on executive compensation,
preliminary results indicate it received a majority of the shares voted.
On Proposal 3, preliminary results indicate that the majority of
shareholders have voted to ratify the Audit Committee’s appointment of
Ernst & Young LLP as the Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2013.
Walter Energy said it would file with the SEC a Current Report on Form
8-K with the certified results promptly after they become available.
About Walter Energy
Walter Energy is a leading, publicly traded "pure-play" metallurgical
coal producer for the global steel industry with strategic access to
high-growth steel markets in Asia, South America and Europe. The Company
also produces thermal coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke and coal bed
methane gas. Walter Energy employs approximately 4,100 employees and
contractors with operations in the United States, Canada and United
Kingdom. For more information about Walter Energy, please visit www.walterenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in
this release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking
statements are based on information available to management at the time,
and they involve judgments and estimates. Forward-looking statements
include expressions such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect,"
"estimate," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "will," and similar
terms and expressions. These forward-looking statements are made based
on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and
are subject to various risks, uncertainties and factors relating to our
operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or
implied by these forward-looking statements. The following factors are
among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from our
forward-looking statements: unfavorable economic, financial and business
conditions; the global economic crisis; market conditions beyond our
control; prolonged decline in the price of coal; decline in global coal
or steel demand; prolonged or dramatic shortages or difficulties in coal
production; our customer's refusal to honor or renew contracts; our
ability to collect payments from our customers; inherent risks in coal
mining such as weather patterns and conditions affecting production,
geological conditions, equipment failure and other operational risks
associated with mining; title defects preventing us from (or resulting
in additional costs for) mining our mineral interests; concentration of
our mining operations in limited number of areas; a significant
reduction of, or loss of purchases by, our largest customers;
unavailability of cost-effective transportation for our coal;
availability, performance and costs of railroad, barge, truck and other
transportation; disruptions or delays at the port facilities we use;
risks associated with our reclamation and mine closure obligations,
including failure to obtain or renew surety bonds; significant increase
in competitive pressures and foreign currency fluctuations; significant
cost increases and delays in the delivery of raw materials, mining
equipment and purchased components; availability of adequate skilled
employees and other labor relations matters; inaccuracies in our
estimates of our coal reserves; estimates concerning economically
recoverable coal reserves; greater than anticipated costs incurred for
compliance with environmental liabilities or limitations on our
abilities to produce or sell coal; our ability to attract and retain key
personnel; future regulations that increase our costs or limit our
ability to produce coal; new laws and regulations to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions that impact the demand for our coal reserves; adverse
rulings in current or future litigation; inability to access needed
capital; events beyond our control may result in an event of default
under one or more of our debt instruments; availability of licenses,
permits, and other authorizations may be subject to challenges; risks
associated with our reclamation and mine closure obligations; failure to
meet project development and expansion targets; risks associated with
operating in foreign jurisdictions; risks related to our indebtedness
and our ability to generate cash for our financial obligations;
downgrade in our credit rating; our ability to identify suitable
acquisition candidates to promote growth; our ability to successfully
integrate acquisitions; our exposure to indemnification obligations;
volatility in the price of our common stock; our ability to pay regular
dividends to stockholders; costs related to our post-retirement benefit
obligations and workers' compensation obligations; our exposure to
litigation; and other risks and uncertainties including those described
in our filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements made by us in
this release, or elsewhere, speak only as of the date on which the
statements were made. You are advised to read the risk factors in our
most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings
with the SEC, which are available on our website at www.walterenergy.com
and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is
impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us or
our anticipated results. We have no duty to, and do not intend to,
update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release, except
as may be required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties,
readers should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made in
this press release may not occur. All data presented herein is as of the
date of this release unless otherwise noted.
