Coal & Allied 1st Half Profit A$227 Million, Up 41% On Year

Miner Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. (CNA.AU) said Wednesday half year profit for the period ended June 30 rose 41% on year to A$227 million thanks to rising sales volumes and booming prices for export coal.

But the stronger Australian dollar and rising costs cut into the profit figure, which UBS had expected at A$273 million.

The company declared an interim dividend of 120 Australian cents, against 150 cents predicted by UBS.

Coal & Allied, one of the largest miners of thermal and semi-soft coking coal in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney, reported earlier this month that production in the first six months of the year was 11% higher than in 2010.

Coal & Allied is 75.7% owned by Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) and 10.2% by Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO), with a 6.3% stake held by fund manager Perpetual Ltd. (PPT.AU) leaving just a 7.8% free float.

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; david.fickling@dowjones.com

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