Coal still king for ATH
RECORD levels of production and continuing increases in the price of coal have helped to produce record annual turnover and profits for opencast coal miner ATH Resources.
And having gained two applications since the year end which will allow it to mine another three million tonnes of coal, chief executive Tom Allchurch said that the Doncaster-based group's future prospects look good.
ATH saw pre-tax profits before interest up 27% to £10.3m on turnover up 30% to £70.5m in the year to September 30.
The group saw earnings per share up 11% to 13.1p and will pay a final dividend of 8.24p a share.
Mr Allchurch said that coal reserves were up 9% to 8.6 million tonnes.
He said: “We are delighted to report a year of record profitability. With production at its highest level and further opportunities identified for growth in both the UK
and Australia, the board is confident in the group's long term prospects.”
This year it sold its 10 millionth tonne of coal since it began operations in 1998.
The company has consolidated its position as Britain's third biggest coal producer after UK Coal and Scottish Coal.
It is number two to Scottish in the opencast sector, with five operational mines.
The land regeneration and coal tip washing business which it bought last year – fellow Doncaster firm A Ogden & Sons – has been re-branded as ATH
Regeneration and integrated within the group.
Ogden was part of the coal and property company founded by the multi-millionaire Sir Robert Ogden in the late 1950s. The sale of the washing and processing
business severed the company's last links with coal.
Mr Allchurch said it “continues to perform ahead of expectations” and he said “a number of exciting new opportunities, to exploit the business' intellectual property and market potential in both the UK and Australia, are being actively pursued”.
ATH sees the larger Australian coal production market as a target for its regeneration operations.
In the last two months ATH has made a successful planning appeal for development of its Muir Dean project in Fife which will provide access to two million tonnes of coal and an application for a one million tonne extension at Grievehill was approved by local planners.
Last year's record levels of coal burn for electricity generation in the UK have dropped but international prices for coal are at an all-time high and ATH sees a good future in the production of indigenous coal for electricity.
