St. Louis, Missouri-based coal producer Patriot Coal Corporation announced Thursday its Q4 and full-year 2011 earnings. In Q4, Patriot's net income was US$43.1 million, an increase from US$42.8 million in Q4 2010. For the year, Patriot's net income was US$176.7 million--a 25 percent increase from 2010, during which Patriot's net income totaled US$141.9 million.
Sales revenue for Q4 totaled US$603.9 million, with sales revenue for 2011 totaling US$2.4 billion, an 18 percent increase over sales revenues of US$2 billion in 2010. Sales in Q4 totaled 7.6 million tons, including 5.8 million tons of thermal and 1.8 million tons of metallurgical coal. The sales volume in 2011 was 31.1 million tons, compared to 30.9 million tons sold in 2010. Met coal sales in 2011 totaled 7.4 million tons--a 500,000 ton increase over 2010.
Despite higher earnings in Q4 2011, Patriot President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Whiting said that "Metallurgical coal demand has trended downward in recent weeks, particularly in export markets. As previously announced, we have taken actions to match our met production with expected sales volume. We are reducing production at both our Rocklick and Wells complexes, with particular emphasis on higher-cost operations, and delaying certain of our met expansion plans."