Coal India May Report Its Lowest Third Quarter Profit In Six Years
Total revenue is expected to rise though.
Coal India Ltd., the world’s largest coal miner is expected to report its lowest third quarter profit in six years. Net profit may fall 19 percent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 3,007 crore, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
On a positive note, revenue is expected to rise 6 percent to Rs 20,109 crore, according to the median estimate of 17 analysts polled by Bloomberg. The company is expected witness revenue growth for the first time in the last four quarters on the back of improved volumes and realisations.
Sales volume has increased 3.5 percent, compared to last year to 142.66 million tonnes in the December ended quarter.
Higher employee cost on the back of the seventh pay commission is expected to hurt earnings before interest, tax and depreciation, which is pegged at Rs 3,974 crore, down 17.6 percent on a year-on-year basis. The average realisations earned by Coal India from e-auctions in the third quarter is expected at around Rs 1,450 per tonne, up 7.5 percent from the last quarter.
Coal India is the only stock in the Nifty Metal Index to give a negative return over the last six months. The Nifty Metal index rose 23 percent while Coal India slipped 3 percent in the same period. Sixty-three percent of analysts tracked by Bloomberg have a ‘buy’ rating on the stock.