Coal news and updates

SinoCoking Coal (NASDAQ: SCOK) reports FY 2013 revenue of $66.7 million, as compared to $78.9 million last year. Net income was $1.1 million or $0.05 per diluted share, as compared to $12.5 million or $0.59 per diluted share. Gross margin decreased to 12.3%, as compared to 19.2%.

 

Discussing fiscal 2013 financial results, SinoCoking's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jianhua Lv, noted, "The decrease in fiscal 2013 revenue was mainly due to decreased sales of coke, coal tar, raw coal, mid-coal, and washed coal, offset by increased sales of coal slurries as well as sales of coke powder and crude benzol, two new products that we introduced in fiscal 2013. Coke powder and crude benzol are byproducts of the coking process and have various industrial applications. Of note, we have been producing crude benzol at our leased Hongfeng plant since last April."

 

Mr. Lv continued, "In fiscal 2013, our revenue continued to suffer because of a very limited raw coal supply due to the ongoing mining moratorium, and we met our coal requirements largely by purchasing raw coal, including from other provinces, at a higher cost driven by the supply shortage. As a result, our overall production cost increased and gross margin decreased. We expect gross margin to remain depressed until the mining moratorium is lifted and we are able to resume operations at our coal mines. We currently anticipate the moratorium to end sometime in the first half of calendar 2014, although there cannot be any assurance as to the exact timing."

 

Source: www.streetinsider.com