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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Stanmore Coal has reported a record first half, with revenues increasing by 791% on the previous corresponding period, while gross profits from operations nearly doubled.
Stanmore on Tuesday reported that revenue for the first half of the 2019 financial year reached A$148.28-million, up 79.1% on the previous corresponding period, while the underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) reached A$41.61-million.
Gross profit from operations reached A$46.13-million in the first six months of the year, compared with the A$21.6-million in the previous corresponding period.
Stanmore reported record opencut run-of-mine production from its Isaac Plains coal mine, in Queensland, producing 1.29-million tonnes during the half-year, up 81.8% on the previous corresponding period, while coal production reached 78 000 t, up 91% on the first half of 2018.
Coal sales for the half-year were up by 48.5%, to a record 882 000 t, with a further 176 000 t of product stockpiled at the end of the half-year, due to port congestion. Stanmore said that the stockpiles would enable strong sales and cash conversions in the second half of the year, as port queues returned to more normal levels.
For the full year, Stanmore was predicting coal production to remain at some 2.15-million tonnes for the full 2019, with underlying Ebitda expected to reach between A$140-million and A$155-million.
Meanwhile, a final investment decision on the Isaac Plains underground mine is also expected in the 2019 financial year.
The underground mine will produce over one-million tonnes of run-of-mine coal a year, and is one of a number of options aimed at providing additional coal to the coal handling and preparation plant.