Costs and expenses were $256.06m for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $199.39m for the same period in 2009. Operating income was $144.74m, compared to $36.87m for the same period in 2009. Net income was $91.87m, compared to $29.18m for the same period in 2009.

For the full year of 2010, the company posted revenues of $1.59 billion, compared to $966.83m for the same period in 2009. Costs and expenses were $993.67m, compared to $764.66m for the same period in 2009.

Operating income was $594.06m for the full year of 2010, compared to $202.17m for the same period in 2009. Net income was $385.8m, compared to $137.16m for the same period in 2009.

The underground mining segment reported revenues of $350.9m in the fourth quarter 2010, compared to $179.7m in the prior-year period. Operating income was $144.6m, more than triple the segment's operating income in the same period last year.

The surface mining segment reported revenues of $35.9m for the fourth quarter 2010, compared to $26m in the prior-year period on increased sales volumes and pricing. Although revenues increased 37.8 percent, operating income in the fourth quarter 2010 only increased seven percent due to higher depreciation, diesel and blasting costs.

Walter Coke reported revenues of $37.9m in the fourth quarter 2010, compared to $37.4m in the prior-year period. Walter Coke generated $5.4m in operating income in the quarter, compared to a slight loss in the prior-year period.

Joe Leonard, interim CEO of Walter Energy, said: “We generated strong fourth quarter earnings on higher coking coal sales volumes and prices. For the full year, earnings increased by almost 175 percent over 2009, reflecting strong pricing and production growth from our organic growth initiatives.

“Globally, events continue to limit availability of premium coking coals and we see supply-demand imbalance continuing in our favor as global steel production improves on its record 2010 output.”

Will the firm further improve revenues in Q1?

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