Better realisation from the sale of coal has pushed up the net profit of Coal India during the fourth quarter ended March 31.

The public sector miner on Wednesday reported a jump of 46 per cent in its consolidated net profit from continuing operations at Rs 6,715 crore in the fourth quarter. Coal India had reported a profit of Rs 4,589 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated revenue from operations increased 22 per cent to Rs 32,707 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 26,700 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

During the January-March quarter, the average realisation from coal sold through fuel supply agreements was Rs 1,474.37 per tonne and that through electronic auction was Rs 2,434.15 per tonne. Both the numbers are higher compared with the year ago average realisation of Rs 1,391.73 per tonne and Rs 1,752.03 per tonne from FSA and e-auction, respectively.

Coal production and offtake during the quarter was 209 million tonnes (mt) and 180.25 mt, respectively, up from 203.42 mt and 164.89 mt in the same period previous year. While production and offtake is typically on the higher side during the fourth quarter, Coal India also had to step up supply to shore up inventory at power plants amid rising demand, reflecting an improvement in both volume and realisation.

For the full year 2021-22, net profit from continuing operations was Rs 17,378.42 crore compared with Rs 12,702.17 crore in the previous year, a growth of 36.8 per cent. Consolidated revenues for the fiscal jumped 22 per cent to Rs 1,09,714 crore from Rs 90,026 crore in the last year.

The board of directors in its meeting has recommended a final dividend at Rs 3 per share of the face value of Rs 10 for the financial year 2021-22.

As of March 31, 2022 the union government held 66.13 per cent in Coal India. Coal India scrips at Rs 180.60 was down 0.99 per cent from the previous close at the Bombay Stock Exchange.