Teck Resources Ltd. says it will cut 500 full-time equivalent jobs as it focuses on trimming $500-million from planned spending through to the end of 2020.
The Vancouver-based miner said Thursday it wants to improve efficiency and productivity after reporting its third-quarter profit attributable to shareholders fell to $369-million compared with a profit of $1.28-billion in the same quarter last year.
“While our financial position remains strong, we have implemented a company-wide cost reduction program with reduced spending, targeting approximately $500-million of reductions through the end of 2020,” Teck chief executive Don Lindsay said on a conference call.
Global economic uncertainties are having a “significant negative effect” on the company’s prices for its products, particularly steelmaking coal, he said.
Teck said its revenue was nearly $3.04-billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, down from nearly $3.21-billion in the year-earlier period.
On an adjusted basis, the company says it earned a profit attributable to shareholders of $403-million, or 72 cents a share, compared with an adjusted profit of $466-million, or 81 cents a share, a year ago.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 66 cents a share for the quarter, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Teck shares fell by as much as 6 per cent to $20.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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