Kibo/mast19 Aug 2022 10:52
Coal miner dubbed ‘worthless’ in net zero world reports 3,000pc increase in profits
Demand for polluting fossil fuel has soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
By
Rachel Millard
15 August 2022 • 4:07pm
A mining business dubbed “worthless” just 14 months ago has seen profits jump almost 3,000pc thanks to a scramble for coal provoked by Russia's war on Ukraine.
Thungela Resources, which mines coal for power stations in South Africa, posted profits of 9.6bn ZAR (£485m) for the first half of 2022, compared to 351mZAR (£17m) last year.
The reversal of fortunes comes less than two years after a City analyst declared the business worthless.
ADVERTISING
Thungela was spun out of Anglo-American in June 2021 after the FTSE 100 mining giant came under pressure from shareholders to ditch fossil fuels.
At the time, research outfit Boatman Capital argued Anglo-American had been over-optimistic about future coal sales while understating future costs. “Our valuation of Thungela is zero,” Boatman said.
Many countries have been trying to turn their back on coal in recent years due to its impact on global warming. Following commitments at the Cop26 United Nations conference on climate change last November, organisers said coal was being “consigned to history”.
Advertisement