Yanzhou Coal interim profit jumps 160 pct

Yanzhou Coal Mining said its 2008 interim net profit soared 160 percent from a year ago to 3.9 billion yuan (HK$4.45 billion) on the increase in coal selling prices.

Earnings per share were 0.8 yuan. No interim dividend was declared.

In the six months ended June 30, turnover surged more than 78 percent to 11.96 billion yuan. The increase was mainly attributed to the rise in average coal selling price, and the fact the firm obtained a new income source - sales of coal acquired from external sources.

Net sales of this traded coal amounted to 765 million yuan, lifting total net coal sales by 79.4 percent to 11.8 billion yuan.

"In the second half, the company will continue to seek new investment opportunities of coal reserves, both in China and abroad, to expand the scale of coal assets," chairman Wang Xin said in a stock exchange statement Sunday.