AUST Business today (extract): NEW HOPE STILL POSITIVE DESPITE...

AUST Business today (extract):
NEW HOPE STILL POSITIVE DESPITE COAL CHALLENGE
Glen Norris
Coal miner New Hope Corp says the outlook for its business remains positive despite an ongoing environmental challenge to its Queensland operation.
New Hope, which managed to sell the first coal from its New Acland Stage 3 project in southern Queensland despite the legal battle, reported saleable coal production of 4.1 million tonnes in the six months to the end of January, an increase of 28 per cent over the prior corresponding period.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA) shrank to $424.8m, less than half the $1.1bn in the prior corresponding period.
Net profit after tax declined from $668.6m to $251.7m. The group will pay a 17c dividend on May 1.
New Hope chief executive Rob Bishop said strong margins were maintained despite coal prices retreating from record highs.
“Our low-cost coal assets, and targeted organic growth, will favourably position New Hope to take advantage of the demand for high-quality coal expected through the energy transition,” Mr Bishop said.
He said that while coal prices had come off “crazy highs”, cash generation remained positive.
“If we look at EBITA last year it was $1.7bn and this year it is probably going to be around about a billion or maybe just shy,” Mr Bishop said.
“So that is still a phenomenal year and that’s off the back of softening prices. So I guess what that tells you is we still generate significant margins. If we pushed out a billion dollars every year we’d be pretty happy.”
Mr Bishop said coal prices were likely to start to creep up rather than down, helped by demand from China and colder weather in the northern hemisphere.
“We’ve had two pretty wild, wild winters but can you expect another one of those this year? You probably assume not, but you never know,” he said.
New Hope has been a frequent target of environmentalists, with a long-running legal battle over the expansion of New Acland set to continue. Mr Bishop said that companies that responsibly managed operational effects on the environment were the “most appropriate operators to produce the coal that will be required through the energy transition”.
The Oakey Coal Action Alliance, through the taxpayer-supported Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), is seeking to overturn the state government’s decision to grant New Hope’s New Acland Mine Stage 3 an associated water licence.
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