Sherritt cuts costs; Amerigo expands

Article Excerpt

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL $1.62 (Toronto symbol S; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-704- 6698; www.sherritt.com; Shares outstanding: 293.6 million; Market cap: $472.6 million; Dividend yield: 2.5%) sold all of its coal interests for $793 million in cash in April 2014. The company is now focused on nickel production, with operations in Cuba and Canada. As well, it has a 40% interest in the Ambatovy nickel mine on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast. Sherritt also produces oil and gas in Cuba, Spain and Pakistan and manages 506 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 31.4%, to $82.9 million from $120.9 million a year earlier, mostly due to lower oil and gas prices. Cash flow per share declined 32.0%, to $0.17 from $0.25. Sherritt paid off $425 million of debt in October 2014, but its total debt of $2.0 billion is still a high 4.2 times its $472.6-million market…