Coal India, a public sector miner, announced a net profit of Rs 5,527.62 crore for the fourth quarter ending March 31, 2023. This represented a 17.68% decrease from the corresponding period in the previous year. Employee benefit expenses rose during the quarter, contributing to the decline. The miner’s total sales during Q4FY23 stood at Rs 35,161.44 crore, up 17.26% from Q4FY22’s Rs 29,985.45 crore.
Despite e-auction sales during the quarter dropping by 41% to 16.4 million tonnes, the miner earned a higher premium with the realisation per tonne at Rs 4,526, compared with Rs 2,434 in Q4FY22. The realisation per ton of coal sold under the fuel supply agreement (FSA) during Q4FY23 was also better at Rs 1,550, compared with Rs 1,470 in Q4FY22.
Employee benefit expenses were Rs 16,982.81 crore in the quarter, compared with Rs 10,595.02 crore in the year-ago period. Coal India said in a statement to the stock exchanges that it had made a provision of Rs 5,870.16 crore for the National Coal Wage Agreement-XI, which deals with the salary of non-executives and is due for revision from July 1, 2021. The amount was included under employee benefit expenses in the consolidated financial statement.
Coal India reported a profit of Rs 28,125 crore for the full financial year 2022-23, compared with Rs 17,378 crore in 2021-22, a growth of 62%. The company said it had made a provision of Rs 8,153 crore for NCWA-XI for the full year. Total consolidated sales for FY23 were Rs 1,27,627.47 crore, compared with Rs 1,00,562.57 crore during FY22, a year-on-year increase of 27%.
The board of directors recommended a final dividend of Rs 4 per share on Sunday. In the two tranches, a total dividend of Rs 20.25 per share had already been paid out. Coal India’s salary bill was 29% higher at Rs 49,409 crore in the last fiscal year. The company, which is facing higher production costs, spent more than a third of its revenue on salaries. The wages of non-executive workers, who make up 94% of Coal India’s workforce, are revised every five years. In 2017, CIL signed a wage agreement with worker unions proposing a 20% hike in salaries for five years. The hike is due from July 2021.