PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Coal miner Whitehaven Coal has reported a net loss after tax of A$543.9-million for the financial year ended June, following impairment charges of A$456.6-million.

“2021 was very much a year of highs and lows both operationally and in terms of factors outside our control,” said MD and CEO Paul Flynn.

“While we had our hands full putting the more difficult geological conditions at Narrabri behind us, we also saw our largest production asset, Maules Creek, achieve record annual run of mine (RoM) production of 12.7-million tonnes.”

RoM production for the full year was down 1% on the 2020 financial year, from 16.6-million tonnes to 16.4-million tonnes, while saleable coal production was down 8%, from 14.8-million tonnes to 13.6-million tonnes.

Coal sales for the full year were down 3%, from 16.8-million tonnes to 16.4-million tonnes, causing revenue to decline from A$1.7-billion to A$1.5-billion in the same period.

Whitehaven reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of A$204.5-million in the full year, down from the A$306-million reported in 2020, while cash generated from operations declined from A$189.9-million to A$169.5-million.

“Amid contending with port and logistics disruption, Covid-19 and other challenges, the team has done a great job containing costs and navigating highly dynamic market conditions. Today, the outlook is better than we have seen for some time, with the strong price environment putting us on an accelerated timeline to de-leveraging the balance sheet and returning cash to shareholders,” said Flynn.

“We’re optimistic about the continuing demand for our high-quality product in a more carbon conscious world,” he added.

For 2022, the group is projecting coal sales of between 18-million and 18.6-million tonnes, at unit costs of between A$72/t and A$76/t.