The rising price of coal has helped Doncaster-based producer ATH Resources deliver annual pre-tax profits of £9 million, a rise of four per cent.
The company's turnover rose 9 per cent to £76.9m on sales of 2 million tonnes of coal, it announced to the City in preliminary results today.
Tom Allchurch, chief executive of ATH Resources, said: "I am extremely pleased to be reporting on ano
ther year of solid profits growth.
"The business is starting to benefit from higher coal prices and is continuing to build upon an already healthy base of reserves and long term supply agreements."
ATH said it had rebased dividend to 6 pence per share for full year, with final dividend of 2.64 pence per share.
Mr Allchurch added: "The exciting opportunities for significant growth in our regeneration business are gathering momentum and, for this reason, we have decided to rebase our dividend to allow a greater proportion of the investment required for these projects to be funded from our existing cash resources.
"I am confident that the group will continue to deliver significant value to shareholders in the years ahead."
ATH said average selling price had increased by 21 per cent to £38 per tonne.
It said demand for coal in the UK was largely unchanged at around 60 million tonnes during 2008 with indigenous coal production meeting approximately one third of total usage.
ATH added that international coal prices during the year rose to an unprecedented level, peaking at over $220 per tonne, in line with the increase in oil prices.
It noted that prices have fallen since the summer and returned to below the $100 per tonne level.
A group statement added: "Although this is less than half of the price at its peak, the price remains higher than twelve months ago and, assisted by the strength of the US dollar, is approximately £15 per tonne higher than the average selling price in 2008."
The group is also set to benefit from a new planning consent agreed from Nottinghamshire County Council for a 0.5 million tonne regeneration project at Langton.
The group said proven coal reserves are up 29 per cent to 4.5 million with total reserves at 8.2 million tonnes.
The statement added: "In addition to the opportunities in the UK, there is a growing momentum in the progression of a number of projects in Australia to deploy the Group's unique coal tip washing technology.
"Negotiations are well advanced with two potential clients and operations in Australia are expected to commence in 2009."
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