* Q2 profit 129.6 mln euros vs 121.5 mln poll average
* Revenue, operating level misses estimates
* NWR keeps production target, sees H2 results better
* NWR shares lose up to 3 pct, hit seven-week low
* Prague index gained 0.56 percent
(Adds CEO, analyst comments, shares)
PRAGUE, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Czech miner New World Resources
(NWR) <NWRS.L> <NWRSsp.PR> swung to a second-quarter profit on
Thursday due to higher coal prices that signalled a stronger
second-half performance.
The owner of the biggest Czech hard-coal mines reported a
129.6 million euro ($164 million) profit, above analysts'
average forecast for 121.5 million euros in a Reuters poll and
following a 39.3 million euro loss a year ago.
The net profit was helped by some proceeds from a 131
million euro sale of an energy subsidiary in June, but sales and
revenue came in below analysts' expectations sending its shares
to a seven-week low.
Revenue from continuing operations rose to 387.4 million
euros from 244.0 million euros a year ago, but below the 419.4
million euros forecast by analysts in the poll. []
Its shares fell as much as 3 percent to a seven-week low,
and were down 2.5 percent by 1154 GMT, while the Prague index
<> gained 0.56 percent.
"The first reaction to the results on the market was
negative, but we believe it will gradually be outweighed by the
positive outlook for the coming quarters," Komercni Banka
analyst Josef Nemy said.
"Q2 results showed how strongly the company's financials
will be boosted in the following quarters by the agreement with
customers on attractive coking coal prices (to) March 2011."
NWR negotiated up to 42 percent rises in quarterly coking
coal and coke prices for the July-September period. In April, it
booked year-ahead contracts at prices 87 percent above the year
before, locking in profits for 80 percent of its coking coal
sales, which make up the bulk of its overall business.
[]
DIVIDEND PAYMENT
The second-quarter net profit wiped out a net loss in the
first quarter, and let the company return to its policy of
paying out half of profits in dividend after it halted payments
last year to preserve liquidity during the financial crisis.
NWR -- which is listed on the London, Prague, and Warsaw
stock exchanges -- declared a 0.21 euro per share interim
dividend payment to be made in October.
"You can take the resumption of the dividend in the context
of a business that feels much more strongly about itself than a
year ago," NWR Chairman NWR Mike Salamon said.
"If our guidance on volume comes through, then theoretically
the second half should be much better than the first half."
NWR, which extracts coal in eastern Czech mines near the
border with Poland and Slovakia, maintained its 2010 production
target of 11.5 million tonnes of coal and 1 million tonnes of
coke, but was cautious about the outlook.
Salamon said the European economic situation and likely
slowdown in recovery meant that the "ongoing focus on
productivity and cost will remain critical, as well as a very
prudent approach to capital spending".
The company said it would invest around 25 million euros
into a project schedule at its Debiensko mine in Poland, which
it looked to open in the coming years.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jana Mlcochova; Editing by Sharon
Lindores)
($1=.7901 Euro)
