By Rhiannon Hoyle

Whitehaven Coal said it produced 62% more coal in its first fiscal quarter, and that sales surged by more than 80%, following the acquisition of two mines in eastern Australia.

The miner also said its production costs are tracking at the low end of full-year guidance as it targets cost-cutting and productivity improvements at its newest operations.

In April, Whitehaven bought two big mines, Blackwater and Daunia, that had been jointly owned by BHP Group and Japan's Mitsubishi, and mostly produce metallurgical coal.

Whitehaven has sought to expand its business by betting on metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, which it expects will be in high demand for renewable-power infrastructure in the energy transition.

Whitehaven on Friday reported saleable coal production of more than 7.1 million metric tons for the three months through September, up from 4.4 million tons a year earlier. First-quarter managed sales of produced coal jumped to nearly 7.1 million tons, from 3.8 million tons a year ago.

The miner estimates that roughly 64% of first-quarter revenue came from metallurgical coal sales, versus 36% from coal used for power generation.

Whitehaven said its first-quarter output of unprocessed or so-called run-of-mine coal totaled 9.7 million tons, up 82% on the year before. That included nearly 4.4 million tons from its existing operations in Australia's New South Wales state and more than 5.3 million tons from the newly acquired pits in neighboring Queensland.

Its first-quarter cost of production, excluding royalties, was at the low end of its annual guidance of between 140 Australian dollars (US$93) and A$155 a ton, the miner said.

Whitehaven expects to have stripped roughly A$100 million in annual costs from the Queensland operations by the end of fiscal 2025.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2024 18:23 ET (22:23 GMT)

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