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Coal & Allied Industries, an Australian coal producer controlled by Rio Tinto, said first-half profit fell 53 percent as flooding along with port and rail congestion limited sales.
Profit fell to 70 million Australian dollars, or $60 million, for the six months ended June 30, down from 148.6 million dollars a year ago, the company said in a statement Tuesday to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Record waiting lines for ships at Newcastle, Australia, curbed exports and raised costs for miners in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales State. Coal & Allied said its share of mine production fell by almost 22 percent in the first half.
“Infrastructure issues continued to impact Coal & Allied’s financial performance and until a satisfactory long term commercial framework is put in place, there is unlikely to be any significant improvement in this performance,” Doug Ritchie, managing director, said in the statement.
The company said it would not pay a first-half dividend. Last year, it paid a first-half dividend of 1.10 dollars a share.
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