Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Whitehaven Coal has reported a record net profit after tax of A$525.6-million for the 2018 financial year ending June, with sales revenues up by 27% and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) up by 32% on the previous financial year.
Revenue for the full year reached A$2.25-billion, compared with the A$1.77-billion reported in the 2017 financial year, with underlying EBITDA up from A$714.2-million to A$940-million.
Whitehaven on Tuesday reported that managed run-of-mine coal production reached 22.9-million tonnes during the full year, with 22.1-million tonnes of coal sold.
Coal sales for the year was 7% higher than 2017, and reflected the ongoing ramp-up of the Maules Creek operation, and strong performance from the Gunnedah openpit mines.
“It is a compelling and tangible illustration of how Whitehaven has successfully set about building a portfolio of quality assets and executing against an agreed strategy,” said MD and CEO Paul Flynn.
“We are at an exciting stage in the company’s evolution in that we are bringing together quality production assets and a development pipeline offering greater scale and geographic diversity against a backdrop of coal prices at historic highs and a track record of successful delivery.”
For 2019, Whitehaven is expecting to sell between 22-million and 23-million tonnes of coal.
“The 2019 financial year is shaping up as another strong year for the company with the outlook for coal demand in Asia set to remain strong across both established and emerging markets,” Flynn said.