Unbooked sale, rising costs and delayed mine opening blamed as prices stay high on strong demand
H share Yanzhou Coal Mining, one of the mainland's largest and most profitable coal miners, saw its net profit continue to decline during the first three months of this year after an 8.7 per cent slide to 2.88 billion yuan last year.
The company's net profit in the quarter slipped 26.5 per cent year on year to 582.5 million yuan based on China's accounting standards, with the blame on the not-yet-booked sales of 980,000 tonnes of coal to Zou Province Power Station.
Yanzhou Coal Mining also recorded a flat coal price of 354.96 yuan per tonne on average during the period.
While coal prices and industry profits hit their peak in the past five years thanks to a tight supply of the commodity, Yanzhou Coal was buffeted by higher costs and a delay in removing villages to make way for mining projects.
'Last year was a year full of hardship, but the group's operating result remained good,' chairman Wang Xin said yesterday.