CLF Cleveland Cliffs Inc

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. said its fourth-quarter revenue slumped 54% amid lower production and low iron-ore prices.

The iron-ore miner also posted a narrower loss for the latest quarter, helped by lower production costs and a big write-down in the year-ago period.

Shares of Cliffs, down 78% over the past year, fell 4.6% to $1.45 in recent premarket trading as revenue missed analyst expectations.

Cliffs also projected 2016 capital expenditures of $50 million, down from $83 million last year, mostly owing to the divestiture of its remaining coal assets and cost controls in its U.S. iron-ore business.

For the three month period ended Dec. 31, Cliffs said revenue dropped to $476 million from $1.03 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenue of $496 million.

The Cleveland-based company has been hurt by weak demand from steelmakers, which have been grappling with low prices amid a glut of supply and a high level of less expensive imports.

Cliffs, one of the country's biggest mining companies, has continued to streamline its operations with the hope that iron-ore prices will recover in time to stave off bankruptcy. The company in November said it would temporarily idle iron-ore pellet production at its Northshore mining operation in Minnesota.

Overall, Cliffs Natural reported a loss of $60.3 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $1.29 billion, or $7.19 a share. Excluding asset write-downs and other items, the per-share loss from continuing operations was 14 cents, compared with a year-earlier loss from continuing operations of $4.02.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share loss of 26 cents.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 27, 2016 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT)

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