The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price jumped into the green on Thursday after the coal giant posted its FY24 results.
Whitehaven shares are up more than 6% at the time of writing to fetch $7.65 apiece as investors digest the news.
Let's see what the company posted.
Whitehaven share price lifts on higher coal production
Key highlights from Whitehaven's year include:
- Revenue came to $3.8 billion, down 37% year over year.
- Underlying net profit of $740 million, down 72% from last year.
- Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.4 billion, down 80% year over yerar
- Run-of-mine (ROM) production: 24.5 million tonnes, up from 18.2 million tonnes in FY23.
- Final dividend of 13 cents per share declared, bringing the full-year dividend to 20 cents.
What else happened in FY24?
It was an interesting year for the Whitehaven share price and for the coal miner itself. During FY24, Whitehaven made several moves on the acquisition front.
It entered into binding agreements to sell joint venture interests in the Blackwater mine, which is expected to bring in US$1.08 billion in early 2025.
Whilst group revenues were down, managed ROM coal production was up 34% year over year. Equity ROM coal production also increased by 40%, hitting 20.5 million tonnes.
At the end of the year, the company had managed coal stocks of 2.7 million tonnes, around 74% higher than last year.
Whitehaven also reported a 30% improvement in safety performance across its New South Wales operations, as measured by the total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR).
Meanwhile, the newly acquired Queensland operations reported a TRIFR of 6.6 in the June quarter.
The company finished the quarter with a net debt of $1.3 billion and generated operating cash flows of the exact same amount. This was down 69% year over year. This could impact the Whitehaven share price.
What did management say?
Whitehaven's CEO, Paul Flynn, was optimistic about the company's performance:
FY24 has been a pivotal year for Whitehaven as we are transforming the business through the acquisition of Daunia and Blackwater. The highly attractive acquisition has diversified Whitehaven and brings with it scale benefits and significant value upside for our shareholders.
While we have been growing the business, we have maintained focus on the NSW operations to deliver a solid financial result for FY24. We delivered an overall underlying NPAT of $740 million, before acquisition-related and other one-off costs, and declared a 13 cent final dividend for shareholders.
What's next?
Looking ahead, Whitehaven expects higher coal prices in the near and long term, driven by supply constraints and increased demand from markets like India.
Management projects 35–39.5 million tonnes of managed ROM coal production, generating managed coal sales of 28–31.5 million tonnes.
It forecasts unit costs of$140–$155 per tonne against these production estimates.
CEO Flynn is also bullish on Whitehaven's growth:
The business is very well-positioned to continue to deliver strong returns for shareholders from both the metallurgical and thermal coal businesses.
Whitehaven share price snapshot
The Whitehaven share price is catching a bid today after the company posted its FY24 earnings.
In the past 12 months, the stock is up more than 3%.
