Hargreaves Services “confident” on full year results

The group, which owns Yorkshire’s Maltby Colliery and operates the Hatfield deep mine near Doncaster, posted a pre-close trading update for the six months ending November 30.

The statement said: “We are pleased to announce that overall the group has performed broadly in line with management expectations and is well placed to deliver a strong second half performance.”

The company said it was “cautiously optimistic” that performance for the rest of the year at Maltby, near Rotherham, will improve.

The statement said: “We remain very confident that output will increase when we move to thicker coal seams during the next financial year. The rest of the group is well set for a strong second half performance and will provide a good opportunity to mitigate any negative performance from Maltby.”

It added: “In summary, the board remains very confident about the prospects for the Group and of achieving management’s targets for the full year.”

The group reported it was pleased to announced planning permission was given by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council for a project in Wales. The industrial services division performed slightly ahead of management expectations and a number of new long contracts have been won since its results were announced in September, the company said.

It said the energy and commodities division continues to outform its original expectations, adding that the UK coal trading operations have traded very strongly even with the mild winter experienced so far. The group expects the transport division to exceed expectations for the full year.

The group expects to announce its interim results on February 14.