New Hope Coal has reported a seven per cent slide in profit, with earnings falling to $439.3 million. The result was in line with market expectations, closely matching the analyst consensus of $438.1 million as measured by Bloomberg. New Hope Coal is an Australian energy company focused on exploration, development, and production of thermal coal, primarily for export. It operates mines in New South Wales and Queensland, supplying coal to the seaborne energy market.
The company declared a fully franked final dividend of 15 cents per share. The lower profit figure was primarily driven by weaker prices for the coal that New Hope mines at its Bengalla site in New South Wales and its Acland location in Queensland.
According to GlobalCoal, top quality New South Wales thermal coal was fetching $US101.11 a tonne on September 12. This represents the lowest price in just over four months. For comparison, the price was above $US114 on August 8, indicating a significant softening in the market over the past month.
