The Missouri-headquartered company said it had $2.02 billion in revenue for the final period of the year ended December 31, a 9.5% drop over the fourth quarter of 2011.

Full-year 2012 revenues were a record $8.08 billion, up 2% year-on-year.

The total was due in good part to increased Australian volume and higher realized pricing in the US.

Sales volumes, it said, were in line with the prior year at 248.5 million tons, thanks to Australian shipments that offset US volume reductions.

However, whole-year, Peabody fell to a loss of $575.1 million, which compared to a profit of $946.3 reported for 2011.

“Peabody generated solid 2012 operating performance, as record US margins, rising Australian volumes and aggressive cost containment helped offset the significant impact of lower seaborne coal pricing,” chairman and chief executive officer Gregory Boyce said.

“Our results and forward targets reflect the continued challenging market conditions we have seen.”

On a positive note, Boyce said it had entered 2013 with a US portfolio that was well-contracted while Australian volumes grew.

The producer said it was able to hold increases in operating costs per-ton to 4% in 2012 thanks to its focus on cost control both in the US and Australia.

At the same time, however, it also had pre-tax asset impairment charges of $884 million related to some of its Australian operations as well as other non-core assets.

The company also recorded $45 million in charges associated with the closure of the Willow Lake mine.

“Asset values across several commodities have recently been impacted by significant price declines,” chief financial officer Michael Crews said.

“Global metallurgical coal prices, for instance, have fallen 50 per cent below the highs set in 2011.

“We continue to see signs that the coal markets are recovering, though this improvement comes off a lower base.

“These price declines factored into our impairment review and required Peabody to adjust the value of certain assets, which resulted in these non-cash charges.”

Peabody acknowledged that markets remained challenged worldwide throughout the year and while there was a strong increase in seaborne thermal demand but a weak global pricing environment and significant declines in US coal use.

Moving into the 2013 financial year, the producer said it was focused on tightening capital spending as well as reducing costs and improving productivity platform-wide.

Its capital targets of $450-550 million for 2013 are about half of its 2012 levels and it said it would be mainly for maintenance capital and its owner-operator conversions in Australia.

Any early-stage projects will continue to be deferred this year – the continuation of those will be timed mostly on market conditions, according to Boyce.

Looking ahead to the full financial year, Peabody is targeting total sales of 230-250Mt, including US sales of 180-190Mt and Australian sales of 33-36Mt.

The remainder will come from its trading and brokerage activities.

Costs per ton, it noted, would remain stable in the US, with domestic revenues per ton projected to 5-10% below last year’s levels.

It is expecting Australian costs in the low $80/t range, as well as rising earnings as the year proceeds, based on expected increases in Australian volumes and pricing and improved costs per ton.