Coal India Ltd, the world's biggest coal miner, has announced a better-than-expected 64 percent jump in first-quarter net profit on the back of robust demand and price rises.
Net profit for the three months to the end of June climbed to 41.4 billion rupees ($912 million) from 25.3 billion rupees a year earlier on sales which rose 27 percent to 145 billion rupees, the state-run miner said in a statement on August 12.
The Kolkata-based company's profit for the quarter exceeded analysts' forecasts of 36 billion rupees. "We have registered good profit levels in the first quarter," chairman N.C. Jha said.
But he warned profit growth would not be as high in the second quarter due to forthcoming wage negotiations with the company's 300,000 workers. "We have to make some provisions for the wage hike so profit growth will be slower," he said. Last time, the workers received a 24 percent pay rise.
Coal India raised $3.4 billion in November 2010 when it sold a 10 percent stake in an initial public offering (IPO) that was hugely oversubscribed. Coal India produces more than 80 percent of India's coal at 471 mines across eight states.