Kolkata: Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world’s largest coal miner, said on Monday that it had posted a net profit increase of 53.75% in the quarter ended 31 December, benefiting from a 10-15% price hike effected in February last year and higher income from deposits.

Net sales rose 21% to Rs 15,349.28 crore from Rs 12,687 crore. This was 16.74% higher than the July-September quarter, in which CIL’s production had fallen to 80.32 million tonnes (mt )—close to 25% lower than normal. The company’s performance was better than what had been estimated. Analysts, on average, had estimated net profit of Rs 363.1 crore on net sales of Rs 15,720 crore, according to a Reuters poll. CIL managed to raise production in the quarter to 114.62 mt—the same level as a year ago—after a decline in production in early October because of floods. Production returned to normal from the second week of October after being “very badly affected” by heavy rainfall and floods in August and September, CIL’s former chairman and managing N.C. Jha had said in an interview in November.

The miner’s other income during the quarter till December—mostly interest earned on deposits—was Rs 1,855.87 crore, 48.4% higher than a year ago. CIL gained 1.42%, or Rs 4.70, to close on BSE at Rs 336.30. The Sensex ended at 17,772.84 points, 0.14% higher. “CIL won’t meet production target for the current year, but after this quarter, it is unlikely to be lower than last year’s 431 mt,” said Rajesh Agarwal, head of research at Kolkata-based Eastern Financiers Ltd, a stock broking firm. The miner said it continued to provide for a potential increase in wages, for which negotiations ended last month. In the September quarter, the company had put aside Rs 766 crore for wage increases. The firm didn’t say how much it provided in the December quarter. CIL’s staff cost in the quarter till December rose 20% year-on-year to Rs 5,622 crore.

Reuters contributed to this story.

manish.b@livemint.com

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