SouthGobi Resources Q4 loss narrows on higher coal prices

(Reuters) - Canadian coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd posted a narrower quarterly loss, as it sold more mineral at a higher price, and said it sees further improvement in prices in the first quarter.

The company, which owns the Ovoot Tolgoi Mine and two development projects in Mongolia, expects first-quarter average realized selling price per ton to rise by half, sequentially.

It sees sales to exceed the previous comparable quarter's 426,000 tons, but to be lower sequentially.

SouthGobi Resources, which sells metallurgical and thermal coal to customers in China -- one of the largest consumers of coal in the world, sold 1.5 million tons at an average realized price of $32 per tonne in the quarter, up from sales of 0.36 million tons at $29 per ton, last year.

For the October-December quarter, the company posted a net loss of $28.7 million against last year's $69.2 million.

Revenue quadrupled to $41.6 million.

China's coal imports have more than quadrupled since 2006 to 165 million tons last year, overtaking South Korea to be the world's No. 2 buyer after Japan.

Shares of the company closed down about 4 percent at $14.13 on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Arnika Thakur in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das) (arnika.thakur@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: arnika.thakur.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

Source:Reuters news service