Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A | TECK.B)(NYSE:TCK), Canada鈥檚 largest diversified miner, is facing fresh pressure from investors who want the company to divest its energy and coal business and replace long-standing chief executive officer, Don Lindsay.
Connecticut-based Impala Asset Management has emerged this week as the second investor in a month to criticize Lindsay鈥檚 guidance. In excerpts of a letter to the miner鈥檚 board, published by Bloomberg, the firm blames Teck鈥檚 CEO for what it calls 鈥渄estruction of shareholder value.鈥�
Impala Asset Management alleges CEO Don Lindsay has 鈥渄estroyed鈥� shareholder value, while receiving one of the biggest paychecks in the industry
Impala also claims that Lindsay receives one of the biggest paychecks in the industry 鈥� C$9.2 million ($6.6 million), including C$1.64 million in salary last year.
Impala鈥檚 claims add to Tribeca Investment Partners鈥� recent concerns. The Australian hedge fund shareholder said in April that investors should push Teck to become a pure base metals miner.
The move, it said, would improve Teck鈥檚 environmental credentials and could lead to a six-fold share gain over the next year.聽
Tribeca also said the Vancouver-based miner should oust Lindsay and scrap its dual-class shares to boost returns.
Earlier this month, Teck seemed to have taken its first step towards the direction investors are rooting for by leaving the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The industry organization鈥檚 members represent about 80% of the country鈥檚 oil and gas production.
Teck spokesman Chris Stannell said at the time that the decision was made as part of a cost-cutting drive, noting the membership annual cost is close to about C$135,000.
Oilsands and coal
In February, Teck聽officially withdrew its application聽to build the C$20.6-billion ($15.7bn) Frontier oilsands mine, just days before the Canadian government was slated to make a decision on the 260,000-barrel-per-day project in northern Alberta.
The company remains a big player in the oilsands sector, however, as it owns 21.3% of the Fort Hills oilsands mine, operated by partner Suncor Energy (TSX, NYSE: SU).
The miner has also set a target to reduce carbon emissions by 33% by 2030. The announcement builds on the previously disclosed commitment to be carbon neutral across all its operations and activities by聽2050.
罢别肠办鈥檚听聽also includes goals to procure 50% of its electricity demands in Chile from clean energy by 2020 and 100% by 2030 and聽accelerate the adoption of zero-emissions alternatives for transportation by displacing the equivalent of 1,000 internal combustion engine vehicles by 2025.聽聽
This week, however, news of the US government growing reportedly concerned about pollution from coal mines in British Columbia, where Teck鈥檚 steelmaking coal operations are located, emerged.
, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is demanding the BC government to explain why the company鈥檚 coal mines are being allowed to exceed guidelines for a toxic heavy metal.
Teck had previously said, in response to similar claims, that it had earmarked more than $1 billion to clean up its effluent by 2024,聽adding that selenium levels should start to drop by the end of this year.
(With files from Bloomberg)