On August 27, New Zealand-based coking coal producer Solid Energy announced its results for the financial year 2009-2010 (FY 2009-10) ended on June 30.
Solid Energy's net profit of NZ$67.8 million (US$47.9 million) in FY 2009-10 was down 38.8 percent compared with a net profit of NZ$110.8 million in FY 2008-09. When the same periods are compared, the company's sales revenues dropped 29.6 percent from NZ$979.5 million to AU$689.8 million (US$487.2 million).
Coal exports in the year were down, at 1.4 million mt compared to 1.6 million mt, and New Zealand coal sales were down slightly from 2.1 million mt to 2 million mt.
Commenting on the results, Solid Energy chairman John Palmer said, "The first six months of the year were difficult, with a continuing fall in international demand, low export coal prices and prolonged industrial action at the company's mines. Internationally, traded hard coking coal prices moved from an annual to quarterly price setting during the year, and recovered from a low of under US$100/mt early in 2009 to more than US$200/mt in the fourth quarter of 2010."