Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation (WTE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation, which I now call to order. My name is Dallas Ross, Director of the company and acting as Chair today. Also with me here today is Glenn Dudar, President and CEO of Westshore Terminals, Nick Desmarais, the Secretary and Vice President of Corporate Development of the company. This meeting is being held in a virtual-only format by online web, and we welcome all of you who have joined us today. Please ensure you remain connected to the Internet during the course of this meeting. If you need technical assistance, please see the section entitled Technical Assistance in the Management Information Circular respecting this meeting. As this meeting is being held virtually, I would like to remind you that voting on all matters described in the information circular for the meeting will be conducted by electronic ballot. To allow sufficient time for voting, polls for all matters being voted on will be open following these introductory remarks, and closed at the end of the formal portion of the meeting. Only registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who have properly logged into the meeting will be able to vote at the meeting. I also remind you that if you are a registered shareholder and you have already voted by proxy, you do not need to vote again unless you want to change your vote. If you plan to vote at the meeting, you may choose to vote on each resolution immediately or wait to cast your vote until after the motion for an item is proposed. In order to expedite the proceedings today, I will be proposing and seconding all motions and for any motions not included in the circular, the motions will be determined based on the preliminary scrutineers' report in reliance on the discretionary authority granted in the proxies deposited for this meeting or on a poll at my discretion. If you have a question on the specific item of business under discussion, you're welcome to ask it by using the Q&A section at the top of the screen and typing out your question. Questions will be answered during the question period. First agenda item is the appointment of the scrutineer. I now appoint Marissa Bintima of Computershare to act as scrutineer. I'm advised that the scrutineer by this it scrutineer that there are 52 shareholders present or represented by proxy representing 45,614,327 common shares, which is 71.68% of the total issued and outstanding common shares. Notice of Meeting was mailed to all registered shareholders of record as of May 15, 2026. The secretary will now report on the quorum.

Mr. Chairman, Article 11.3 of the articles of the corporation provide for the quorum for this meeting, presence of 2 or more individuals present in person holding personally or represented as proxies not less aggregates than 10% of the issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting. The scrutineers' report on attendance shows that we have a quorum.

Thank you, Nick. I therefore declare this meeting to be properly constituted for the transaction of business brought before it. I now declare the polls open on all resolutions included in the management information circular for the meeting. Moving to Item 3 on the agenda. The minutes of last year's Annual General Meeting held on June 17, 2025 have been verified by the signatures of the Chairman and Secretary of that meeting. Unless there is any objection, I will dispense with reading them. I would now like to ask Glenn Dudar to make his presentation on the operations at the port.

Thank you, and good morning. Before I get underway, please note the standard caution about forward-looking statements. I'm pleased to welcome all of you to the Westshore Terminals' Annual General Meeting. Thank you for joining us. Today, I'll provide an update on the activities over the past year as well as what's ahead for 2026 and beyond. Diversification continues to guide our thinking. In addition to being a steelmaking and thermal coal export terminal. We are advancing toward becoming a potash export terminal as BHP service provider for the Janssen project. This project remains the largest transition in our history. We are now well into the construction phase and moving closer to completion with commissioning expected to begin in 2027. At the same time, we are continuing to operate at scale. That has required careful coordination between construction and operations with both teams working side-by-side every day. In 2025, we faced some operational challenges, most notably the fire on the [indiscernible] ship loader, which reduced throughput for a period of time. Despite that, we continue to serve our customers and maintain operations across the site. At this point, we don't have federal policy pressures, which helps provide a more predictable operating environment. At the same time, global demand for the high-quality coal we handle remains strong. Our role as a service provider in the supply chain remains unchanged and maintaining strong relationships with our customers continues to be a priority. Our operational performance in 2025 was solid, and we shipped 23.56 million metric tons of coal. This equated to handling 1,441 trains from Class 1 railways and loading 264 vessels. While volumes were lower than 2024, this was largely due to the temporary loss of capacity of Birth 1 following the fire. Despite that, we continue to operationally and maintain service for our customers. Looking at export destination markets, our shipments continue to be concentrated in Asia. Japan and South Korea remain our largest markets, accounting for the majority of volumes handled throughout the terminal. This overall mix remains consistent with prior years, and we expect these markets to continue to represent the core of our business going forward. In 2025, revenues were $323 million and profit before tax was $124 million. These results reflect the lower throughput volumes and reduced handling rates this year. The results also reflect the business interruption insurance proceeds following the ship loader incident. Despite these pressures, we delivered solid financial performance supported in part by business interruption insurance following the ship holder incident. Looking ahead to 2026, we expect volumes to recover to approximately 25.5 million tonnes with handling rates remaining stable. As you know, Westshore's revenues are primarily driven by throughput volumes and customer handling rates. These rates vary based on customer mix, exchange rates and global coal prices. In 2025, the average handling rate declined to approximately $13.05 per ton compared to $13.76 in 2024, primarily due to weaker thermal coal pricing under certain customer contracts. 2026, we expect handling rates to remain relatively stable at approximately $13 per ton. We continue to deliver consistent returns to shareholders. Chart shows total dividends paid per share, including special dividends. Variations in annual totals reflect the timing and amount of special dividends declared in certain years. In 2025, the quarterly dividend was maintained at $0.375 per share, resulting in an annual dividend of $1.50 per share. This demonstrates our commitment to stable and predictable returns to shareholders. The potash project remains a defining initiative for Westshore and continues to progress well. This is the largest capital project in our history and represents our first diversification into a new commodity since the terminal began operating more than 50 years ago. Our agreement with BHP is a long-term contract tied to the Janssen mine in Saskatchewan, which is expected to be one of the largest potash operations in the world with an extensive operating life. Construction is now well advanced with major components of the system taking shape across the site. Work in 2025 included continued progress on the rail dumper, conveyor systems and storage building with several key structures nearing completion. Later in 2026, the new ship loader for Birth 2 will arrive. The ship loaders are designed to handle both potash and coal. The removal of the old ship loaders and installation of the new ones are estimated to result in a 2-month outage for Birth 2 operations. All of this work is being carried out while a terminal continues to operate at scale requiring careful coordination across multiple active work areas. We remain on track for commission activities to begin in Q2 of 2027 with first shipments expected later in that year. While the project has experienced cost pressures due to the significant inflation and engineering design delays, we remain confident in both the schedule and the long-term value of this investment. Based on the information currently available, we expect these costs to be incurred through to mid-2027 and will be funded through cash reserves, cash from operation, 5% holdback and the balance from borrowing. Despite these potash project overages, $225 million, we remain in very solid financial position. This project will significantly diversify our business and position Westshore for stable long-term growth. Our commitment to safety, environmental stewardship and community remains core to our operating principles. Our 2025 ESG report is available on our website. In 2025, we achieved our best safety performance on record with significant improvements in lost time injury rates and total lost workdays. This reflects the continued focus and engagement of our workforce and the effectiveness of our safety programs. In 2024, we also proudly made the largest donation in company history, a $1 million 5-year commitment to the BC Cancer Foundation on their new BC Cancer Center in Surrey. Construction is underway and is on track for a 2030 opening. These priorities are fundamental to how we operate and how we measure success. Looking ahead, the potash project will remain a key focus throughout 2026 and into 2027. At the same time, coal continues to be the foundation of our business and we remain committed to delivering reliable services to our customers. We are also continuing to plan for the long term, including investments in infrastructure, automation and technology to support future operations. Westshore has always adapted to changing conditions, and we are confident in our ability to continue doing so. We look forward to the year ahead. Thank you.