(Reuters) -Coal India, which accounts for about three-quarters of the country’s coal output, reported a larger-that-expected 30% decline in quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by lower e-auction premiums and weak volumes from tepid demand.
The state-run miner’s consolidated net profit fell to 43.54 billion rupees ($495.36 million) in the second-quarter ended September 30. Analysts, on average, had expected 61.96 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Shares of the company closed down more than 2% after the results.
Coal India’s average realisation from e-auction sales stood at 2,292.40 rupees per ton, lower than the 2,453.92 rupees per ton last year. Overall average price realisation of coal supplied fell by 1 rupee from a year ago.
The Kolkata-based firm gets nearly 10% of its sales through e-auctions at near-spot rates.
India’s power plants have been withdrawing more coal from record high inventories and cutting purchases from Coal India, Reuters reported earlier.
The company, which mainly produces non-coking thermal coal for power generation and industries, logged a drop in production and off take in two of the quarter’s three months, according to company data.
Analysts also flagged Coal India continuing to fall behind its peers in the mining sector, with a consistently declining off take and bleak growth volume that led the company to post a year-on-year profit fall in the last two quarters.
Revenue from operations fell 3.2% to 301.87 billion rupees.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manvi Pant and Komal Salecha in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
