Coal miner Bumi on track for 2011 target, output up

Thu Nov 17, 2011

* Says Q3 group production up 35 pct to 23 mln tonnes
* Berau Coal sales up 20 pct to 5.5 mln tonnes
* Realised prices for Q3 of $94 per tonne, up 32 percent

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Coal miner Bumi Plc , a joint venture between Nat Rothschild and Indonesia's influential Bakrie family, said it was on track to hit its output target of 86 million tonnes in 2011 after a 35 percent rise in production in the third quarter.

Over the first nine months of the year, the group's production has totalled 62 million tonnes.

Realised prices for the group over the quarter were $94 per tonne, up by almost a third on the same period a year ago.

Subsidiary Berau Coal saw sales rise 20 percent compared with the same period last year while coal output increased 23 percent. Berau's 2011 output target is on track and its longer term expansion plan is on schedule, the group said.

Bumi Plc also owns a 29 percent stake in Jakarta-listed PT Bumi, which controls the KPC and Arutmin coal mines.

Relations between Rothschild and his Indonesian partners have deteriorated in recent weeks, with a leaked letter for Rothschild last week calling for a "radical cleaning up" of corporate governance at PT Bumi in a show of frustration.

The Bakries have since gone public themselves with their own criticism of Rothschild's broadside.

Bumi Plc, which began life as Rothschild vehicle Vallar, gained a premium London listing earlier this year.

Its shares have since dropped more than 20 percent, slipping below 850 pence in September in a dip that triggered the mandatory repayment of a loan and almost forced the Bakries into default, before they signed a deal earlier this month to sell half their stake.

(sourced Reuters)