I was going to buy these when at 108p few months ago but never had the courage. They reached new heights of about 134p recently but have slipped to around 113p at present.

They have a massive yield of 10%.

Does anyone have any views about buying into these.

I would be content to just have 10 or 20 per cent increase over the next year on thse if i got my 10 % divi.

Thanks

I used to work for UK Coal and received free shares as a result.
The future of the UK coal industry is not very encouraging but this company will probably evolve as they have a massive land bank.

Big piece in the FT today about Kate Barker's report which may recommend a Land Tax which would impact on the very land bank mentioned above. Bear in mind the Chancellor makes his Autumn speech early December.

land tax sounds dodgey.....so does the sulphur emissions scare recently mentioned. Apparently the govt are considering falling in with EEC sulphur emissions. British coal is higher than european coal in sulphur which could mean power stations having to use euro coal instead. I have just sold and am waiting to go back in if problems are resolved. As u rightly point out divi is tempting

There's trouble brewing at Kellingley Colliery.
The union is opposing the introduction of flexible working and industrial action is threatened.

Market cap 179 Mill, approx value of land bank 250 Mill.

Now capitalised at almost 250 million but I bet that 250 million figure was based on 2002 prices therefore land bank must be worth more than 300 million now.. still a buy would you think at 170p?

Price has fallen back since this thread was last out of the archives
any thoughts from anyone currently?
Yield roughly 7.9% - still very good

Took a recent hammering with production levels well down. However developing the land bank seems to be where the action is. Also with oil prices heading higher, one day coal will be back on the agenda even though mining costs are high in the UK. Assuming the dividend is safe, it could be a good time to invest IMHO.

rgrds
gk

This stock will be great if you can wait until 2006 but in the meantime the Dividend is safe and therefore worth a punt.

Thanks for the thoughts - bit concerned on the land/planning etc front
need some more thought..
:>)

Gallick,

Yes the land is where the hidden value is here.

dividend should hold and the possibility of land development, if it comes off is a bonus. I'm in for a 10% plus gain ( I hope ).

The charts are indicating support around 130 so now is about the time to buy.

Screen,

The charts also indicating resistance at 140.
Could go either way.

Strong article in this weekends FT outlining rerating of land values due in next few weeks & 7-8% dividend yield expected. Despite force majeure this shows real potential

Yes it was quite a plug for the shares in Saturday's FT!

I like the land bank potential but Millgate Capital Inc reduced holdings from 5.33% (11/02/05) to 3.08% (17/02/05) and on 21.02.05 had no significant holding. Does this tell us anything ?

g6496,

yep i read that too, report was positive although i think they still have to obtain PP before they can commence selling the land bank.

one small worry may be falling development land prices...

Agree with earlier comments but the recent profit warnings and dividend cut has turned sentiment negative. A 60 day moving average has been profitable here in the past combined with two month positive relative strenght. I will wait for these before buying here again.

After this mornings story in the FT speculating about a bid from American venture capitalists, the price has broken the two criteria that I talked about yesterday.

Back up to the heights of 134 - any idea if the VC is looking at the land bank as the main value?

I would speculate that it is a combination of the land value and rising coal prices internationally which UK Coal missed out in the past on given the long time that they are locked into contracts. When these expire they should be able to get much higher prices with a nice resulting cash flow kick in.

From what I read the lock ins cover most of their production - any ideas when some of these expire?

Sorry I don't know. But rest assured the venture capitalists would know as I would guess that they would use the higher cash flow to pay down the loan for the acquisition until they can sell off the land back. Classic venture capital stuff. There is also an American now in charge and they are big into this sort of thing and I would be very surprised if he is not somehow assisting, i.e. the dates the lock ins expire!

Announcement confirms VC approach & a possible 160p bid:

'UK Coal PLC confirmed this afternoon it received a tentative takeover approach some weeks ago.

The UK's largest coal company added it asked the interested party for clarification on certain aspects of the approach but received no 'substantive' response.

The company said 'there can be no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming.'

Earlier, UK Coal shares surged on speculation that a private equity group could launch a 160 pence per share offer for the group. '

Back to the drawing board - oh this does sound interesting and profitable all around

Much speculation on a takeover again..I wonder if it will come of anything this time - Maybe news with interims this week?

Very good news for UK Coal - this is a BUY

The Mail on Sunday reported that UK Coal's property director Jon Lloyd is expected to tell analysts that its 50,000-acre property portfolio, which it has on its books at 274 mln stg, could be worth double that.

Meanwhile, the Independent of Sunday reported that UK Coal is to tell the City on Monday that it is sitting on a gold mine, with development hopes boosting the land value to 500 mln stg.

UK Coal is tipped to double from now by my sharebroker.

Good news again...BUY at 407p



UK Coal PLC
16 November 2006



16 November 2006



UK COAL plc ('UK COAL' or the 'Company')



Placing to raise 30 million

The Board of UK COAL announces that Bridgewell Limited has, on behalf of the
Company, completed a placing (the 'Placing') of 7.4 million new ordinary shares
of 1 pence each (the 'Placing Shares') at 406 pence per share to raise gross
proceeds of approximately 30 million. The placing price represents a premium of
approximately 2% to the closing mid-market price on 15 November.

The Placing has been undertaken in order to strengthen the Company's balance
sheet and increase financial flexibility which had become somewhat constrained
following reduced coal production during the summer. The proceeds of the Placing
will initially be used to reduce the Company's net debt.

The Placing Shares will, when issued and fully paid, rank pari passu in all
respects with the existing issued ordinary shares of the Company.

The Placing is conditional upon, inter alia, admission of the Placing Shares to
listing on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the
London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities (together 'Admission').

Interesting to see the strength in UK Coal shares following weakness after the recent share placing. The Company seems to be gathering further market interest.

Fidelity stake now 8.97% reported late November prior to todays update on property development. Although held my shares for 3 years, I think this one will go on to higher levels.

Beginning to twitch, set to move up to an 800 million market cap.

Sweaty bum time for shorters.

Fidelity have reported to have sold its stake. They made a nice turn. The situation seems to be moving along with Peel increasing stake to 24.49%.

Large discounted trade went through at 11.17am re 249,845shares at 523p.

Have sold 50% of my holding at 568p and keeping the remainder for now. I delayed sale for tax purposes. I notice that Peel has said that it will not make a full takeover unless another party did so or that it could get the Boards approval one. I think the latter may occur at some stage but, we shall see.

UK Coal PLC
23 April 2007

23 April 2007

UK COAL PLC ('UK COAL')


Annual General Meeting Statement



At its Annual General Meeting, held at 1.00pm today, the Chairman of UK COAL,
David Jones, made the following comments on first quarter trading:


'Overall performance has been in line with expectations, excluding the effects
of the production stoppage at Daw Mill, which has already been reported on. Daw
Mill is now also performing normally following an extensive safety review.


Our surface mining business continues to make rapid progress, and three new
planning permissions have been received for sites containing some 1.4 million
tonnes of coal.


UK COAL's Property Division, Harworth Estates, continues to progress well in
adding value through the planning process and developing the Group's property
portfolio.


The detailed review of our property estate continues, and we are likely to be
adding additional projects onto the list of 60 priority sites identified last
November. This will then form our medium to long-term development portfolio,
providing a consistent pipeline of good quality sites moving through the
planning consent and development phases.


Harworth Power, UK COAL's power generation subsidiary has installed 15 MW of new
generation capacity and has progressed several planning applications in respect
of wind turbines in the quarter.



Overall the Group remains well placed to deliver further value for shareholders
and will continue to focus on realising the significant potential within its
property portfolio, developing its surface mining business, reducing the risk
profile of its deep mining operations and capitalising on opportunities in power
generation.'


Guscavalier comment- outlook seems ok. Like the statament about adding additional projects to property portfolio.

UK Coal PLC
05 September 2007


September 5th 2007


UK COAL PLC ('UK COAL')

Financial Results for the six months ended 30 June 2007

Strong growth. Strong outlook

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Operating Profit up 108% to 45.1 million (H1 2006 restated: 21.7
million)
Pre-tax profit up 143% to 40.6 million (H1 2006 restated: 16.7 million)
Net assets per share up 32% to 2.06 (December 2006: 1.56)
Strong growth in value of land and property portfolio
- RICS valuation up 16% to 398 million (December 2006: 344 million)
- Estimate of worth in 2012 up 12% to 900 million (December 2006: 800
million)
Gearing reduced to 19% (December 2006: 21%)
Earnings per share 34.2 pence (H1 2006: 11.2 pence)


Commenting, David Jones, Chairman said:

'These good results demonstrate the considerable progress UK COAL has made in
the first half of the year. We have significantly increased the value of our
property business, strengthened the operating performance and prospects of our
mining businesses, more than doubled pre-tax profits and significantly grown the
value of net assets per share.

'In mining, since June, our deep mines have been generating operating profit. In
parallel, production and profit from our surface mines have grown considerably.
We have also made considerable progress both in reducing the proportion of our
total output that is contracted for sale at historic prices and in negotiating
new contracts at today's much higher world market prices. There will always be
risks in mining; but these are very positive developments. In property, we
continue to identify new opportunities and to make very good progress in
securing the appropriate planning consents and progressively executing our
development strategy. These actions have resulted in significant increases in
both the RICS property valuation and in our estimate of the future value of our
property portfolio.

'We view UK COAL's future with considerable confidence and look forward to
delivering further good growth in shareholder value for the full year and
beyond.'


Guscavalier comment: This is only the introduction to the figures but gives the gist.Good to hear that the deep mines are now profitable and the Company is gradually taking advantage of higher coal prices. sp around 560p has recovered well having been below 500p recently.

UK Coal wins new EDF contract
Date: Monday 10 Dec 2007

UK Coal has won a contract with EDF that will enable the miner to commit to a 55m investment programme at Thoresby, to access a further 12m tonnes of reserves and extend the collierys live by around 10 years.

UK COAL PLC ('UK COAL')



Preliminary Financial Results for Year Ended 31 December 2007



Strong operating performance. Strong growth in profits. Strong outlook



Highlights



Operating profit up 200% to 82.7m (2006: 27.6m )

Profit before tax up 292% to 69.0m (2006: 17.6m)

EPS up 412% to 59.9p (2006: 11.7p). Excluding tax credit, EPS up 276%
to 44.0p (2006: 11.7p).

Net assets per share up 46% to 2.28 (2006: 1.56)

Average sales price per gigajoule up 15% to 1.62 (2006: 1.41)

Deep mines in operating profit in the second half of 2007

o H1 operating loss before non-trading exceptional items of 24.7m

o H2 operating profit before non-trading exceptional costs 10.1m

Major jump in surface mines' operating profit due to increased sites,
output and selling prices

o Operating profit 8.5m (2006: 0.5m)

Power generation operating profit up 39% to 4.3m (2006: 3.1m)

Further gains in property portfolio valuation reflecting long term
potential

o Like for like RICS portfolio valuation up 21% to 411m (2006: 344m)

o Estimate of Project Worth in 2012 up 17% to 935m (2006: 800m)

o Estimate of Project Worth in 2013 1 bn

o Planned developable acreage increased 40% to 3,696 acres

Year end gearing reduced to 23% (2006: 28%) reflecting substantial
growth in net earnings


David Jones, Chairman, said

'UK COAL has delivered another year of substantial progress in all our
businesses. Pre-tax profits grew almost fourfold to 69 million; earnings per
share increased 412% to 59.9 pence; and assets per share increased 46% to 228
pence. We have shown we have a strong growth platform, that we are effectively
executing our strategy and that we have the potential to deliver further
substantial value this year and beyond.

'In mining, last year, the world coal price has almost doubled, we have
successfully moved our overall sales prices closer to the market price and we
are progressively securing a balance of contracts at floating, capped and
collared, and fixed prices. This is significantly altering the underlying
economics of our mining operations and enabling us to invest in accessing more
reserves in both our deep and surface mines. There will always be
unpredictabilities, particularly in deep mining; but the demand and price
environment for coal has improved notably and has created a more positive
backcloth than at any time in UK Coal's corporate life.

'In Harworth Estates, we have also delivered further good progress in both the
current value of our portfolio and in its substantially greater estimated future
value with the benefit of the planning permissions we are currently pursuing.
There has been much publicity about downward pressure on UK commercial property
values. However, the longer term outlook for property in the UK, with its
structural shortage of land for development, remains positive; the construction
phase of our developments only starts to become significant in 2009 onwards and
none of our estimates of future Worth include any potential for development
phase profits.

'With a positive outlook for all our businesses, we face the current financial
year with considerable confidence.'




Company's prospects looking good now that it is able to benefit from firm worldwide coal prices. May even reflect in dividends payments at some time.
sp up 3p @ 457p.

For information as per 2007 Report & Accounts re sub. shareholdings.

Peel Land & Property Inv 24.41%
Artemis Inv Man 5.45
Ameriprise Financial Inc 4.89
Deutsche Bank AG 4.09
Legal & General(Pen.Man) 4.07
Credit Suisse Secs(Eur.) 4.04
Allianz 4.01
Audley Eur.Opportunities 3.37

This looks like a bid situation looming - but no real news - benefit from high coal prices have helped but there is more to it than that imho!

It is felt in some quarters that Drax Group plc may be looking to take over UKC. Drax would then be able to source its coal internally father than pay the soaring market price for coal. Peel have said in the past that it wouldn't make a bid itself for UKC but reserved the right to do so if another party showed interest. May see this situation warm up a bit over coming months.

Yes I think this particular run is press speculation.
Monday could be a good test.

Interesting one to keep an eye on though!!

The support at 420p has been broken now.


UK Coal slumps to H1 pre-tax loss.


The UK's biggest coal miner UK Coal slumped to a pretax loss in the first half, but said it remained on target to meet its profit expectations for the full year.

UK Coal, which has mining operations in Britain and a property portfolio, said the non-cash property valuation gains of last year were significantly reduced as a result of the current property downturn.

The company reported a pretax loss of 9.9m for the six months to June 30th, compared with a pretax profit of 40.6m a year ago.

Numis Securities said the pretax loss, resulting from the company's deep mining operations, would be reversed in the second half.

The sharp increase in the price of coal, up 45% from the start of the year to July, is set to boost cash flows for the company, which supplies around 15% of the coal burned in the UK.

UK Coal said it would produce 5 million tonnes of coal in the second half, compared with 3.7 million in the first half.

Agreed with your comment hyleo after seeing results and sold out my remaining shares yesterday at 402p. These have been a good servent but the property side may affect sentiment for a while. Have switched funds into BP.

Well done, Gus. Good to see I was right on this. 313p now. I think it will go lower with the housing market giving more dire news today.

Expectations for the remainder of 2008 for UK Coal

While output in the third quarter, and in particular in September, was reduced in part by non-recurring events, poor geology has continued to affect output at Kellingley and Thoresby. As a consequence, we believe that full year sales will total around 8 million tonnes, compared to earlier expectations of around 8.7 million tonnes (2007: 7.8m tonnes, excluding Maltby). We expect full year Deep Mine sales will be no more than 6.2 million tonnes and Surface Mines will realise circa 1.8 million tonnes.

In revenue terms for the full year, until recently we expected that part of this output shortfall would have been offset by higher than expected realised average sales prices. However, following the recent fall in the market price of coal we now expect an average fourth quarter sales price of 1.85 to 1.90 /GJ, taking fixed price contracts into account, making the average out-turn for the full year within our previously announced range of 1.90 to 1.95/GJ, rather than higher than this range as it might have been.

The world coal price has recently dropped from over $190 per tonne at the end of August for H2 2008 deliveries to $129 per tonne as of 14 October 2008 for Q4 2008 deliveries. At an exchange rate of circa 1:$1.75, this converts into a current UK market price of around 3/GJ. Compared to previous years, and indeed to the start of 2008 when the world coal price was around $118/tonne or 2.35/GJ at 1:$2, this remains a very high market price. However, very significant amounts of our deliveries are still contracted at prices historically fixed well below this level. The volume of these older contracts is set to fall sharply after next year.

The changes in the production outlook for the year, coupled with the market price for coal, lead us to conclude that our overall results for the year will be significantly below our previous expectations.

UK COAL lowers production forecasts
Business Financial Newswire


Deep mine output at UK COAL's pits - with the exception of Kellingley - has been materially lower than anticipated over the past three weeks.

The firm said that despite deploying increased man hours and taking other mitigating actions, it believes that deep mine production for the year ending 26 December is now likely to be between 5.7 and 5.8 million tonnes instead of the 6.2 million tonnes forecast in its interim management statement on 26 october.

It said that at Kellingley, the required work has been completed on the face equipment following the recent tragic fatality, and face production has restarted on the schedule.

However, the speed of recovery towards a normalised level of production has been slower than originally anticipated, and as a result, the Company has therefore revised down estimated production by a further 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes, making a total impact of 300,000 to 350,000 tonnes from the tragedy.

For the full year, Kellingley is now expected to produce around 1.0 million tonnes. Investigations are still continuing into the cause of the fatality.

Production at Thoresby continues to be affected by the previously reported very poor environmental and geological conditions on its last old panel and has not seen the improved output rates expected at the time of the 26 October 2009 announcement.

Daw Mill is still expected to mine all the remaining coal in the current panel prior to Christmas and achieve production of 3 million tonnes for the full year.

The last part of the current panel is being affected by a larger dirt band than originally anticipated, which will require additional washing and grading and, as a consequence, some reduction in saleable production.

At Welbeck, production has been affected by geological effects on the face.

While these have now been substantially worked through, this slow production has reduced our production expectations for this mine.

In consequence, Welbeck's production is now expected to be around 1.0 million tonnes for the year against the previous forecast of nearer 1.1 million tonnes.

Broker note from Arbuthnot 06.01.10:
"UK Coal has strengthened its board in terms of coal experience with the addition of Gareth Williams, a welcome development for the company which has struggled in recent times to achieve forecast productions. Mr Williams is currently employed by Anglo Coal as head of operational performance for Anglo Coal Canada and South America and has operational experience from some of Anglo Coals largest operations.

The company has also guided that 2009 production will be at the lower end of guidance given in November which was for 7.1Mt (this was a cut of 500kt at the time) lower production is due to poor geological conditions at its three operations. This is being addressed however the tone of the statement looks likely that guidance for 2010 will be lowered when the company puts out its pre close statement at the end of January. Powered roof support installation at Daw Mill was supposed to be in place in January, this has been pushed back by a month to Feb. Kellingley and Thoresby appear to be on track.

We retain our 120p target price for the moment with the expectation that the company will mitigate some of this lost production with higher prices, however we expect to see the shares softer today"

Perhaps a little early but the chart is starting to look more promising? (Nice price target!)

Rising due to Daily Mail possible cash bid.

"UK COAL has noted the speculation in today's Daily Mail relating to a purported proposal for a cash offer for the Group. UK COAL is not aware of any such proposal from the Group's major shareholder or any other source."

However:
"The Group is at a very early stage of investigating an approach it has received which could address the Group's exposure to the volatile performance of its deep mines through a merger transaction. It is emphasised that this proposal is highly conditional and at a very preliminary stage and no view can be expressed as to whether a transaction will result.
As has been reported to the market, the Group has encountered continuing difficulties in the performance of its deep mines in recent months, which is having a material impact on its financial position. At Daw Mill, as previously reported, preparation for production at the new face was hindered by difficult geological conditions and, as a result, the start of production on the new face is now expected during April rather than around the end of March. The exposure of the Group to the volatile performance in its deep mines is a significant concern to the directors and mitigating the effects of this exposure, by operating improvements or structural means, is a priority."

Broker note from Arbuthnot today:
"Looking to offset underground exposure.
We read this to mean that UK Coal is looking at reducing the group's exposure to the revenue interruptions caused by underground delays by acquiring or merging with a business that has a more reliable and stable revenue stream. . The FT reported this morning that Hargreaves Services is the company most likely to have made the approach. The motivation to improve the financial structure and cashflow stability for the deep mines seems sound. Hargreaves successfully bought the Maltby colliery from UK Coal in 2007 and has shown it can operate a deep mine efficiently.
Deep under-performance.
More negative is the director's obvious concern over the potential liability created by the deep mines if the poor performance continues. UK Coal, knowing full well that the status quo is unacceptable, has recently appointed a Director of Mining tasked with lifting the mine's performance. However, further Daw Mill (or other mining) delays will make it extremely difficult to combat unit cost increases, in a volume driven and highly operationally geared business.
We expect our forecasts for the year, which were at the low end of the range, to remain achievable. However, to meet production expectations of 7.6-7.8mt for the year, UK Coal now has no margin for error (which is not a comfortable situation given we are only three months into the year). Cash flow will continue to be a problem for the loss-making group in 2010, particularly with planned capex of 40-45m and a last reported net debt position of 180m (inc. Prepayments and exc. restricted cash). Despite these facts, our recommendation is based on UK Coal being a turn-around play. This still remains possible and could be assisted by the right transaction (Hargreaves Services currently in the frame), although we recognise that any visibility on the timing or success of either event is very limited."

Hi
can anyone explain why there are so many rule 8.3 take over code transactions taking place.

I know I may sound like a novice but are most if not all of these transactions indeed sales? if so why? am I missing some important news.

Pro TAer Zak Mir commentating on the stock this morning....

Zak Mir



Reged: 28/06/07
Posts: 1273
Re: CHART ATTACK - Longs and Shorts
#463680 - 14/04/10 08:07 AM Edit Reply Quote



Well, this is another incredible pick, with the March / April double support. Any sustained price action above the 50 day moving average now at 52p this week could deliver an initial target as high as the March intraday high of 66.75p over the next 2-4 weeks for UKC.

Interesting to see Arbuthnot joining the list of Broker Buys here yesterday.

Maybe a merger is really on its way at last.

UK Coal PLC

FORECASTS
2009 2010

Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Arbuthnot Securities
14-04-10 BUY -114.18 -59.50 -55.03 -18.60

Milkstone Ltd
07-04-10 HOLD -115.00 -60.00 -20.00 -12.00

Evolution Securities Ltd
04-03-10 BUY -114.50 -59.60 -36.10 -12.10

Numis Securities Ltd [D]
29-01-10 BUY -111.10 -57.70 -48.80 -16.30

2009 2010
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus -114.50 -59.54 -36.10 -12.05

1 Month Change 3.27 1.80 0.00 0.05
3 Month Change -11.70 -6.04 -1.80 -0.55

Notes to forecasts
D flag: Numis estimate figures includes the non cash impact of property revaluation


GROWTH

2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)
Norm. EPS % % %
DPS % % %

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)

EBITDA 53.78m -43.10m 32.67m

EBIT 3.28m -91.70m -39.41m

Dividend Yield % % %

Dividend Cover x x x

PER -8.57x -0.90x -4.46x

PEG f f f

Net Asset Value PS 161.10p p p

(hemscott premium)

Moving along nicely today about 16% up for the week.

Not sure wether we are getting corporate action.

AN EARLY LOOK AT SHARES MAGAZINE
15 April, 2010 08:08:41 AM


The Cover Story
* Double your money (Ten stocks set to bounce back): - Begbies Traynor, Connaught, Datacash, Game Group, Findel, HMV, Luminar, Omega Insurance, Paypoint, UK Coal

Dunno what it says............anyone have a copy??????????

From Shares Mag this week:
Share price: 50.3p
Share price low since 1 Jan 2007: 49p (2 Mar 10)
All-time high: 541.6p (15 May 96)
Support level: 49.0p
"The troubled miner has seen its market valuation fall from nearly 1 billion in May 2008 to a mere 150 million. The shares have been hit by operational problems with its underground mines and writedowns in its property portfolio. Coal miner-to-haulage group Hargreaves Services (HSP:AIM) has proposed a merger, having already worked closely with UK Coal in the past on the Maltby colliery, which it subsequently bought, and a previous joint venture called Coal4Energy. Speculation 28% shareholder Peel Land and Property was preparing a bid had given some support to UK Coals share price earlier this year, but the revelation it was Hargreaves instead doing the talking has subsequently seen the share price weaken again. Buying the shares is high risk, yet UK Coals turnaround potential remains intact. After recent writedowns, its property portfolio is still worth 394 million and offers huge potential for building homes and office space.
Net debt stands at 180 million. The priority is to sort out the deep mining issues. A merger with Hargreaves would be a bonus and is not a prerequisite of the turnaround story. If UK Coal goes it alone, we believe the share price has already factored in mining risks and there is considerable upside on the property developments."
(DC)

cheers Harry.

UKC... UK Coal Chart starting to look positive. Caught MACD moving above signal line which as proved to be very positive in charts of late. I suppose we would be looking to take out short term resistance at 75p first stop.

Coal in big demand......

should help UKC.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article7100308.ece

Chart starting to look very positive....

This chap usually does very well from his investments.......


19/04/2010

Odey holding interests in both UK Coal and Hargreaves
Business Financial Newswire

Odey Asset Management has this morning revealed that it has an effective 2.96% holding in UK Coal, through direct holdings and derivatives, and a similarly effective 5.03% holding in Hargreaves Services.

On March 10 Heargreaves Services confirmed that it was in the early stages of merger discussions with UK Coal.

Losses have widen from 15 million to 129 million... that's bad.

It is also running out of cash, and it needs to sell its land now.
SELL at 52p

Half-year losses grow at UK Coal as financing costs bite.


In a trading update for the half-year to 26th June, UK Coal said its overall operating loss for the period, including its share of its joint ventures, is expect to be around 52m before revaluation movements and non-trading exceptionals.

Exceptional legal and professional fees of approximately 7.5m were incurred in the first half, principally relating to the refinancing exercise. These, together with around 1m of Harworth maintenance costs, will be treated as exceptional items in the period.

As a result, first half exceptional finance costs are expected to be around 10m (H1 2009: nil), and non-trading exceptional costs are expected to be around 8.5m (H1 2009: 3.7m).

Interest and other financing costs are expected to be around 13.5m (H1 2009: 10.2m), excluding the arrangement fees and the write off of previously hedged fair value movements referred to above.

The total first half pretax loss is expected to be around 94m (H1 2009: 81.5m).

Net debt excluding restricted cash and generator loans/prepayments at 26 June 2010 is expected to be around 170m (December 2009: 114.3m). Including generator loans/prepayments, but excluding restricted cash, net debt is expected to be around 255m (December 2009: 181m).

The Group said it continues to prioritise its safety culture and has seen some significant steps on a long journey in a number of areas in the first half of 2010. In particular, there has been a 50% reduction in the number of major injuries in the first half of 2010 compared to 2009.

Average realised sales price: Reflecting the rise in the world coal price over the period together with the move from our legacy contracts towards new supply contracts, the average realised sales price for the first half of 2010 was 1.97/GJ (H1 2009: 1.80/GJ, FY 2009: 1.87/GJ).

The outstanding tonnage to be delivered under legacy contracts continues to fall and the mix of supply is moving more towards the previously announced new or amended long-term contracts, which significantly increases our long-term contracted coal prices and our short-term cash flows. The legacy contracts will have been largely fulfilled by the end of this year, leaving only a further 2.6m tonnes to be delivered, predominantly in 2011.

Production: Total first half production was 2.7m tonnes (H1 2009: 3.7m tonnes, FY 2009: 7.0m tonnes), of which deep mine production was 2.2m tonnes and surface mine production was 0.5m tonnes (H1 2009: 3.0m tonnes and 0.7m tonnes respectively, FY 2009: 5.7m tonnes and 1.3m tonnes respectively).

UK Coal losses 'unacceptable, says chairman


Mining, property and power company UK Coal plc posted a pre-tax loss of 124.6m, edging down from its previous loss of 129.1m, for the year to December 25.

However, new chairman Jonson Cox said the group had delivered a further year of poor operational performance, bringing it to 'three years of unacceptable performance in a row'.

A wide-ranging strategic recovery review to tackle deep-rooted problems was well advanced, said Cox.

Revenue for the year was up 11% to 351.2m from 316.0m.

Operating loss before non-trading exceptionals was down 20.1% to 74.3m from 93.1m.

Loss per share was 41.8p, against the previous loss of 72.9p.

The group - Britain's biggest producer of coal - reported improved production despite a four-month gap at the Daw Mill colliery, with the total rising to 7.2m tonnes from 7.0m tonnes.

Average sales price rose 5.3% to 1.97 per gigajoule from 1.87.

Property sales met the target with 24m sold in 2010, resulting in a loss of 0.5m.

Cox, who joined as chairman in November, said the board was 'determined to arrest the trend of under-delivery and to seek value for our shareholders'.

He added, 'The viability of UK Coal over the medium term depends on appropriately rewarding the equity capital required to finance the business. The board fully appreciates that investors deserve a far better return than they have experienced over recent years.

Cox said the causes of the group's severe losses were 'deeply rooted and require a complete overhaul of strategy and execution'. Production levels had consistently fallen short of expectations and operating costs had grown relentlessly.

Each of the three ongoing deep mines had underperformed its investment programme in developing new coal-faces at some point in the last three years.

The company had become over-reliant on debt, which had risen from 94m in 2006 to 242m in 2010.

UK Coal had relied heavily on the potential of its property portfolio, both to underpin future value and to use as security for its banking facilities.

It was now clear that the property projections under Project Worth, presented in the 2009 accounts to be 615m in 2012 rising to 820m in 2014, were 'neither realistic nor deliverable in the context of current market conditions'.

Cox said, 'It is clear that the group is in a poor position: over-financed by debt, encumbered with production costs which are too high and over-exposed to the market for brownfield property.'

These included repudiation of an unaffordable RPI pay award which would have cost 5m, pruning of allowances and a significant reduction in the size of the head office.

As a result, a 12m cost reduction for 2011 was expected compared with the group's original budgets.

It had also 'made clear to all parties' the need to close the group's current final salary pension schemes.

Lloyds Banking Group had agreed to extend the group's borrowing facilities while the board undertook a full review of the business.

A friend keeps recommending this one. Bought a small number a while ago.

Will John Whittaker finally get his wallet out, he's had a couple of refusals now I'm sure the miners would be more appreciative than the actors!

UKC taking a bad hit again...


The Company has today commenced consultation on the potential closure of Daw Mill by early 2014 at the point when current and largely-developed coal panels will have been mined. The Company has suspended developments for exploitation beyond the end of 2013 but retains the option to resume developments, re-open the mine or extend its life, to exploit the mines considerable long-term resources. This would only happen under a lower risk operating model.

Although UK Coal's other mines are performing broadly in line with expectations, production at Daw Mill is around 175,000 tonnes behind budget. To achieve UK Coal's plans for 2012, Daw Mill needs safely to increase production to target levels on its 303s coalface by May and to recover and resume production on the 32s coalface.

I don't hold this leaky bucket, but separated by lack of knowledge means I look for an opportunity to invest . . . and I see a fight on one side with Unions, devoted to striking a good deal even though the mine is close to closure (so all they have is a pay cheque).
Yet on the other a company that has hived off its silver to prop up mounting losses . . .so the sp is really only a "hope" that it won't get worse. - Which is largely a function of Unions - Grief, who'd be there by choice?
If they have to close shop and settle their Creditors.... will there be enough to let current shareholers get their money back, or - more likley you'd be lucky to receive 30p in the £1 - i.e. somewhere near the 12p it reached only recently.

hlyeo98, what's yr take, you post a lot on this stock; are you still holding in hope?
EDIT:(1Jn2012)- Bt a few at 10p . . . . AGM soon. I like their Real-Estate operation.
EDIT (8Jn2012)_ oh deary, 8p beckons. I see Yield is 0%, missed that.
EDIT-5Nov- Oh deary, prep for Namechange restructuribg drops sp 25%....Now 4p9

UK Coal (LSE: UKC.L - news) sheds nearly 15 percent as the coal miner says its first-half revenue fell 23 percent to 198.3 million pounds as a result of significantly lower sales volumes, leading to an operating loss before non-trading exceptional items of 6.0 million pounds, a turnaround from a 35.2 million profit at the same stage last year.

Fire-hit Daw Mill coal mine set to close

A Warwickshire coal mine hit by an underground fire last month is to close.

The majority of the 650 workers at Daw Mill Colliery will be made redundant in the move.

The colliery had been due to close next year but after the fire on 22 February owners UK Coal said it was possible commercial mining might not resume at the site.

About 56 million tonnes of coal is estimated to remain there.

UK’s biggest coal miner on verge of collapse