New Hope Corp, a major coal miner in Australia, suffered a loss in the fiscal year of 2019-20, due to coal price slumps caused by sluggish electricity demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said on September 22.
The firm's loss after tax from continuing operation was A$156.8 million ($113.35 million) during the FY 2019-20 (August 2019-July 2020), while it last year reaped a profit of A$210.4 million, it said in a statement.
In August, New Hope reported its coal sales in May-July period dropped 29.3% year on year to 2.36 million tonnes, owing to weakened demand from Japan and South Korea.
Over the same period, the commercial coal production declined 15.8% year on year from 3.32 million to 2.79 million tonnes.
Considering uncertainties in thermal coal demand, the company said it will continue to reduce production at operations in Queensland in the next year.
New Hope didn't declare a final dividend, while it was 9 cents per share last year.
(Writing by Rebecca Liu Editing by Tammy Yang)
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