The New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) share price is on watch this morning after the Aussie coal miner reported its April 2019 quarterly results yesterday afternoon.
What did New Hope report yesterday?
New Hope reported a 90% increase in saleable coal production from its New South Wales Bengalla operations (which is now 80% owned by the company). It posted total saleable coal production of 2.91 million tonnes for the quarter—a 39% increase on April 2018 quarterly production.
Total coal sold by the company increased by 61% to 3.07 million tonnes, with export throughput at Queensland Bulk Handling also climbing 11% quarter-on-quarter to 1.65 million tonnes.
New Hope also announced that it has been advised by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science that it had been granted the application to amend the environment authority for its New Acland Coal Mine Stage 3 Project.
Following the buyout of the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) majority stake in the Bengalla Joint Venture, New Hope completed the acquisition of a further 10% to a final interest of 80% in late March 2019.
New Hope also drilled 38 holes for a total of 3,708 metres across New Acland and the North Surat with a pre-feasibility study for the North Surat coal project focusing on capital cost estimates and financial analysis.
From a safety perspective, the company reported no safety incidents during the quarter from its Bridgeport Energy project with an average realised oil price for the quarter of US$69/bbl (A$98/bbl).
What's been happening to the New Hope share price?
The New Hope share price closed 4.1% higher yesterday at $2.80 per share but remains a long way shy of its 52-week high valuation of $4.50, set as recently as March 2019.
The company's share price fell nearly 25% in just 2 days back in March following the release of its quarterly results, which on the surface were broadly positive but included significant "irregular costs" which saw investors head for the exit.
New Hope still boasts a market cap of $2.3 billion and currently trades on a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.6x, and the share price remains 318% higher since its 2003 initial public offering.
