Coal Energy EBITDA drops 16% yoy in 1QFY13

Coal Energy (CLE PW) reported a 1% yoy and 20% qoq decline in revenue to USD 39.4 mln in 1QFY13 in its earnings release on Nov. 23. EBITDA dwindled 16% yoy and 31% qoq to USD 13.5 mln and net income fell 9% yoy and 1% qoq to USD 7.5 mln. The company acknowledged its inventories increased to 1.5x average monthly coal production as of end-1Q (finished products on its balance sheet doubled throughout the quarter to USD 11.5 mln), which Coal Energy attributed to a difficult market during the quarter. Export activity fell sharply to 6.6% of total revenue in 1QFY13 compared to 33% in FY12. Coal Energy said it expects to sell out the excess inventory during the fiscal year.

Roman Topolyuk: EBITDA came in 10% lower than we expected in 1QFY13, which may be a result of actual selling prices for thermal coal being lower than our projections. We expect that market weakness will persist in 2QFY13-3QFY13, negatively influencing CLE’s sales. 2QFY13 results will be also weaker on an expected decline in coal sales owing to the planned transfer of coal waste recovery operations to a new facility, with the gradual ramp-up to full capacity load only to occur in 3QFY13.