18 January 2017
The Resources business is expected to report earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of between $135 million and $140 million for the first half of the 2017 financial year, exceeding previous guidance provided in October 2016 of a broadly breakeven EBIT for the half.
The better than expected earnings result reflects strong production in the second quarter resulting from the implementation of recommendations from the productivity review, a new mine plan and opportunistic use of contract fleet to further increase volumes to take advantage of attractive coal pricing. This increase in production supported higher than expected sales volumes aided by improved shipping timing and higher realised prices for both Curragh and Bengalla. The result for the half also benefitted from provision adjustments due to the settlement of the Stanwell litigation, related to the interpretation of the reference coal price used in determining the export rebate payable by the Curragh mine.
The full release is available below.
First Half Earnings Update/Quarterly Statement of Production