Australia's New Hope falls after trimming coal production, sales forecasts
May 19 (Reuters) - Australia's New Hope Corporation (NHC.AX), opens new tab fell 7% on Monday, after the coal miner lowered its annual production and sales forecasts, citing issues with rail capacity at its New Acland mine in Queensland.
Shares fell as much as 7.1% to their lowest level since April 30 by 0058 GMT. They were also among the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index (.AXJO), opens new tab, which was down 0.4%.
New Hope now expects saleable coal production for the year ended July to be in the range of 10.58 million metric tons to 11.57 million metric tons, compared with the previous forecast of between 10.83 million metric tons and 11.87 million metric tons.
Annual coal sales are now expected to be between 10.41 million metric tons and 11.45 million metric tons, about 2% below the company's earlier forecast.
New Hope said its New Acland Mine experienced challenges with rail capacity in the quarter ended April, as rail network constraints led to a "significant" build of inventory at the mine's train load-out facility.
The company said that major rail system outages are also planned for June and July, adding that it is working to secure additional rail pathing and haulage capacity to manage this issue.
The miner expects annual coal sales from the Queensland mine to be nearly 10% below the previously forecast levels.
In the April quarter, New Hope produced 2.8 million metric tons of saleable coal, in line with the January quarter, but reported a 27% sequential drop in underlying EBITDA due to lower realised prices.
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