Coal news and updates

Whitehaven Coal boosts sales, narrows losses

WHITEHAVEN Coal said today its net loss narrowed in the fiscal first-half as sharply higher coal sales offset continued weakness in global prices.

Sydney-based Whitehaven, one of Australia’s largest coal producers, reported a loss of $11.6 million for the six months through December.

That compared to a loss of $48.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

“The fundamentals of the business are now showing some very encouraging upside and we believe we have enhanced our resilience to volatility on coal prices,” managing director Paul Flynn said in a statement.

Investors responded well to the coal miner’s optimism. At 10:35am (AEDT), Whitehaven shares were 2.63 per cent higher at $1.755 against a benchmark index slide of 0.03 per cent.

In earlier trade, Whitehaven shares hit as high as $1.7925.

Last month, Whitehaven reported record output and sales as it produced more coal from its Narrabri mine in New South Wales.

The company said it produced 2.9 million tonnes of saleable coal in the three months through December, up 44 per cent on-year, and sold 3.2 million tonnes, up 52 per cen6t.

The miner didn’t pay an interim dividend.

Source: The Australian