Speaking of snow........
NP/wire say Fording Canadian Coal cuts payments
2007-03-05 09:20 ET - In the News
The National Post reports in its Saturday, March 3, edition that Fording Canadian Coal Trust cut its cash payments to unit holders by 32 per cent on the cost of shipping delays. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports the units fell the most in four months on Friday. The distribution will be 65 cents per unit for the first quarter. That is down from 95 cents in the fourth quarter and $1.40 in the first three months of 2006. Fording says the new payout "reflects adverse winter weather conditions on rail transportation" to British Columbia ports in January. First quarter transportation costs will probably rise "due to additional demurrage costs as vessels experience longer waiting times before being loaded." Fording owns 60 per cent of the Elk Valley Coal Partnership, operator of metallurgical coal mines in Alberta and British Columbia. Most of the company's coal is exported through Vancouver. As a royalty trust, Fording pays out most its cash flow to investors, part of a strategy to reduce taxes.
