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 | | Tuesday, 5 March, 2002, 11:25 GMT British coal group posts loss  UK Coal owns 14 mines in Britain Britain's largest coal producer UK Coal has reported a pre-tax loss of �26.5m ($37.6m)for last year. It blamed geological problems and operating difficulties for the slide into the red, which follows a profit of �17.8m ($25.2m) in 2000. However it said it was making good progress with a project to cut costs and step up productivity. It also noted a 10% increase in the use of coal for power generation in the UK last year, and recorded a slight rise in coal output from 19.6m tonnes from 19.1m in 2000. One analyst said UK Coal was an unusual firm, with investors paying more attention to share dividend and outlook rather than profit and loss. The firm, which was RJB Mining, bought the bulk of the country's coal pits in 1994 when they were privatised. Government funding UK Coal said the loss at deep mines was caused by geological problems and operating difficulties at several collieries, and an industrial dispute at Rossington, near Doncaster.
It was also hit by �15.8m of costs in developing reserves at Prince of Wales Colliery, West Yorkshire, before it decided to close the pit. The figures include 'operating aid' income from the government of �21.7m in 2001 and �53.3m in 2000. This brings funds received up to the �75m cap set by the government and UK Coal says it does not expect to get any more. 'Strong' order book The company has launched a scheme to reduce costs and increase productivity, making it better able to compete with imported coals. Chief executive Gordon McPhie said the project had "started well". It aims to boost productivity by 20 % by the end of next year. The group said that on the positive side, a number of actions had been taken to improve the deep mine operations, the surface mines had performed well and its property business continued to profit from sales and an increase in rental income. "The company has a strong forward order book amounting to some 50m tonnes over the period to 2010", UK Coal said. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Business stories now:  Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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