HARGREAVES Services, which owns the rump of Scotland’s coal mining industry, has reported a 72 per cent fall interim profits.
The company, which is continuing to downsize its coal mining operations, booked an underlying pre-tax profit of £900,000 in the six months ended November 30, down from £3.2 million at the same stage the year before. Revenue from continuing operations was booked at £170.9m, down 2.2 per cent. Hargreaves, which has wound down six of the seven coal mines it acquired in Scotland from the administrators of ATH and Scottish Coal in 2013, said its performance was in line with expectations.
Chairman David Morgan said: “It is pleasing to see how much progress we have made towards the three strategic goals we set ourselves a year ago.”
Hargreaves expects net debt to “fall materially” in the second half, noting that the outcome will depend on the timing of property disposals. Shares closed up 1.25p at 276.5p.
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