Yanzhou Coal shares rise after upbeat forecast

Shares of Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd, China’s No. 3 coal producer, surged 6.24 percent or HK$0.84 to HK$14.30 early on Monday after the coal producer revised up its profit estimate for the first half of 2008.

Shares of Yanzhou Coal have fallen about 12.9 percent so far in 2008.

Yanzhou Coal said last Saturday that it expected earnings to jump by at least 220 percent in the first half of 2008 from the year-ago period as coal prices extended their rise.

It previously estimated net profit would increase by more than 100 percent, based on the coal price for the first quarter of the year. The company posted a net profit of 1.11 billion yuan in the six months.