News: NHC Australia's New Hope starts second half stronger on improving coal prices

March 23 (Reuters) - Miner New Hope Corp (NHC) said on Tuesday it had made a strong start to the second half as prices for thermal coal improved and the demand outlook brightened, after reporting a half-year loss.

Outlook for Australia's coal exports has come under pressure after a diplomatic row with China prompted the world's second-largest economy to impose trade reprisals against Canberra.

But a recovery in coal prices thanks to rising demand in Asia after the lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions has offered some relief to miners.

New Hope Corp said in a statement that it had started the second half of its fiscal year with an improved underlying profit and that it expected demand for thermal coal to remain healthy in the short term.

But it warned that there was still uncertainty around the future of its environmentally-contentious New Acland mine in Queensland, forcing it to ramp down operations there in the absence of regulatory approvals to expand the project.

The company posted a loss attributable to shareholders of A$55.4 million ($42.90 million) for the six months ended Jan. 31, compared with a profit of A$69.8 million a year earlier.

New Hope declared a fully franked interim dividend of 4 cents per share, lower than the 6 cents per share it paid a year earlier.

The miner said on Monday it was experiencing a minor disruption due to flooding in the Hunter Valley region.

($1 = 1.2915 Australian dollars)