Banpu Public Company Limited (BANPU) announces its 3Q/2013 result with the net profit of
USD 30 million (approximately THB 944 million). This result is 42 percent higher than the previous quarter due to a reduction in production costs. This 3rd quarter performance is considered very sound in this slow coal price environment.The global coal price, however, has now bottomed out and become stable.

Mr. Chanin Vongkusolkit, BANPU CEO, said that even though the net profit of this quarter was lower than the same period last year, the USD 30 million net profit is still good in the current environment of global price decline. The Company’s average selling price ( ASP) of 3Q/2013 was at USD 70.14 per tonne. The Indonesian mines’ ASP was USD 72.65 per tonne while the Australian mines averaged at AUD 70.90 per tonne. In 3Q/2013, the Company produced and sold totally 10.72 million tonnes of coal, 7.51 million tonnes from Indonesian coal operations and 3.21 million tonnes from Australian coal mines.

“The coal price has finally bottomed out and is getting more stable. Banpu’s performance is still good considering the downturn in global coal prices”, Mr. Vongkusolkit said.

The sales revenue in the third quarter was reported at USD 809 million (approximately THB 25,477 million). Of the total revenue, 94 percent or USD 760 million (approximately THB 23,924 million) was from coal business, and another 5 percent or USD 41 million (approximately THB 1,291 million) was from power and stream.

For the power business, Banpu realized the net profit of USD 27 million (approximately THB 850 million) from BLCP Power Plant in 3Q/2013. The combined heat and power plants in China recorded USD 3 million net profit (approximately THB 94.44 million).

“Even though the coal market is still not favorable for business, our actions taken to manage operating costs will help cushion the impact on Banpu’s performance. In 3Q/2013, the average production cost of Indonesian mines was USD 44 per tonne while that of Australian mines was AUD 52 per tonne,” Mr. Vongkusolkit explained.

Mr. Vongkusolkit added that Banpu expects that this year’s coal production and sale volumes from operations in Indonesia, Australia and China will be on target to reach 46 million tonnes. Moreover, the Company plans to expand its markets into ASEAN countries in order to increase revenues.

“Banpu sees growth opportunities in ASEAN countries especially Vietnam which will be a new focus. At the same time, we will still concentrate on our existing markets of India, Indonesia and the Philippines as we predict these countries will have higher demand for coal generated power serving their economic growth,” Mr. Vongkusolkit concluded.

At present, Banpu’s coal markets are China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thai, Australia, U.S.A. and Italy.