News: New Hope coal sales cut by floods

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New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX:NHC) has blamed heavy rainfall and flooding for a 42 per cent drop in coal sales for the three months ended on 30 April.

In the quarter coal sales came in at 853,000 tonnes, from 1.5 million the same time a year before.

With weather impacting operations, the coal producer was forced to truck coal as rail lines were closed due to flood damage. 

However, rail capacity has now returned to pre-flood levels enabling the company to resume shipments.

In the first half of the 2011 financial year New Hope’s net profit dropped 27 per cent to $81 million.

However, New Hope booked a $407 million interim net profit, boosted by the sale of its stake in Arrow Energy.