Westshore Terminals Income Fund - 2006 first quarter report

About this update from Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation

[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nVANCOUVER, May 5 /CNW/ - Westshore Terminals Income Fund (TSX: WTE.UN)\nannounced today its earnings for the first quarter ending March 31, 2006.\nPlease see attached Report to Unitholders for details.\n\n\nWestshore Terminals Income Fund\nFirst Quarter Report\nFor the three months ended March 31, 2006\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nDear Unitholders:\n\nEffective October 1, 2005, the cash inflows of Westshore Terminals Income\nFund (the \"Fund\") are based on the distributions received from the operations\nof Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership (\"Westshore LP\"). Prior to\nOctober 1, 2005, the Fund derived its cash inflows from its investment in\nWestshore Terminals Ltd. In this Report \"Westshore\" refers to Westshore\nTerminals Ltd. 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 rates charged by Westshore and Westshore's costs. Westshore's\nthroughput charges for approximately half of the coal it handles are\ncalculated at present by reference to coal prices. Higher prices for hard\ncoking coal resulted in Westshore's principal customer achieving much higher\naverage settlement prices for the 2005/06 coal year (ending March 31, 2006)\ncompared to the 2004/05 coal year. For the 2006/07 coal year, reference prices\nthat are publically available to date are approximately US$107 per tonne, down\nfrom prices of approximately US$122 in the last coal year, but still up\napproximately 100% compared to the 2004/05 coal year. As Westshore has some\nexposure to fluctuations in exchange rates (as a result of pricing mechanisms\nunder its customer contracts), Westshore engages in periodic currency hedging\narrangements to provide some partial shielding from material short-term swings\nin the CDN/US dollar exchange rate.\n\nWestshore Terminals Income Fund\n- Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition\n and Results of Operations\n\nThis management's discussion and analysis refers to certain measures\nother than those prescribed by Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting\nPrinciples (\"GAAP\"). These measures do not have...

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