News: YAL Yancoal Australia to pre-pay $801 mln debt as coal prices boom

June 30 (Reuters) - Coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd (YAL) said on Thursday it intends to repay about $801 million of debt from available cash by the end of July, as record-high coal prices help fill the company's coffers.

Coal prices have surged this year due to bans on import from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, with buyers hunting for steady alternate sources of coal amid a larger supply crunch.

"Yancoal's decision to undertake another early debt repayment was made possible by the ongoing record coal prices and the company's focus on optimising its capital structure," said Chief Executive Officer David Moult.

The company did not say when the debt was originally scheduled to be repaid.

After the latest instalment, the company will have repaid more than 45% of its A$3.98 billion ($2.74 billion) interest bearing liabilities as of June 2021, it said.

It had repaid a combined $550 million last year and has a separate mandatory repayment of $50 million due next month.

Yancoal, which this month rebuffed an attempt of a full takeover by its largest shareholder, China's Yankuang Energy 600188.SS 1171.HK , said the prepayment will help it save $113 million in finance costs.

The Australian company in April forecast attributable saleable coal production of 35 million tonnes to 38 million tonnes this year. It had reported a A$791 million profit for fiscal 2021.

($1 = 1.4520 Australian dollars)