China's Yanzhou Coal sinks into red as cost cuts fail to offset lower coal prices and volumes
Mainland coal miner plunges into red in first half as net loss amounts to 50.63 million yuan
Yanzhou Coal Mining, the listed unit of China's fourth largest coal miner Yankuang Group, plunged into the red in the year's first half as cost reduction was insufficient to counter the impact of a sharp drop in coal prices and sales volume.
Net loss amounted to 50.63 million yuan in the half, compared with a profit of 587.24 million yuan in the year-earlier period. The firm is expected to book a net profit of 145 million yuan for the whole of this year, according to the average estimate of 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
First-half revenue plummeted 41.4 per cent year on year to 18.14 billion yuan, on the back of a 27.6 per cent decline in coal sales to 43 million tonnes, and a 24.1 per cent tumble in average selling price to 505 yuan a tonne.
Output of processed saleable coal produced by its own mine fell 5 per cent year on year to 32 million tonnes in the first half.
First-half operating profit from coal mining dropped 14 per cent year on year to 406.41 million yuan, while that of railway transport plunged 88.5 per cent to 4.22 million yuan.
Production of electricity and methanol saw operating profit jump 84.8 per cent year on year to 250.78 million yuan. Electricity output jumped 107.5 per cent year on year while methanol output surged 151 per cent to 834,000 tonnes.