Westshore Terminals Income Fund - 2005 Third Quarter Report

About this update from Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation

[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nVANCOUVER, Nov. 4 /CNW/ - Westshore Terminals Income Fund (TSX: WTE.UN)\nannounced today its earnings for the third quarter ending September 30, 2005.\nPlease see attached Report to Unitholders for details.\n\nWestshore Terminals Income Fund\nThird Quarter Report\nFor the nine months ended September 30, 2005\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nDear Unitholders:\n\nUntil September 30, 2005, Westshore Terminals Income Fund (the \"Fund\")\nderived its cash inflows from its investment in the $645 million subordinated\nnotes and common shares of Westshore Terminals Ltd. Effective October 1, 2005\nand going forward, as a result of the Fund's previously announced\nrestructuring, the cash inflows of the Fund are based on the distributions\nreceived from the operations of Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership\n(\"Westshore LP\"). In this Report \"Westshore\" refers to Westshore Terminals\nLtd. prior to September 30, 2005 and to Westshore LP thereafter.\nThe earnings and distributable cash of the Fund are wholly dependent on\nthe results of Westshore. Westshore's results are determined largely by the\nvolume of coal shipped by its coal mine customers for sale in the export\nmarket, the rate per tonne charged by Westshore and Westshore's costs. As a\nresult, Westshore's throughput charges for approximately half of the coal it\nhandles are calculated by reference to coal prices. Higher prices for hard\ncoking coal have resulted in Westshore's customers achieving much higher\naverage settlement prices for the 2005/06 coal year (ending March 31, 2006)\ncompared to the 2004/05 coal year. Westshore's throughput charges that are\nlinked to the price of coal (which cover approximately half of the throughput)\nincreased significantly by the end of the second quarter of 2005, and are\nexpected to continue at the same levels for the balance of 2005, leading to\nmaterially higher anticipated distributions in the second half of 2005\ncompared to 2004. As Westshore has some exposure to fluctuations in exchange\nrates (as a result of the pricing mechanisms under most of its customer\ncontracts), Westshore has also put in place some currency hedging which is\nintended to offer partial shielding to Westshore from material swings in the\nCDN/US dollar exchange rate.\nThe enclosed financial statements ha...

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