Final Results
UK Coal PLC
01 March 2007
1 March, 2007
UK COAL PLC
Preliminary Financial Results for Year Ended 31 December, 2006
Strong platform for value creation
UK COAL PLC, the UK's largest producer of coal and the developer of one of
Britain's largest brownfield property estates, today announces its preliminary
audited results for the year ended 31 December, 2006.
Financial Highlights
• Operating Profit pre Exceptional Items up £40m to £47.8m
(2005 restated £7.4m)
• Operating Profit up £52m to £27.6m (2005 restated: £24.1m loss)
• Profit for the year up £50m to £17.5m (2005 restated: £32.8m loss)
• Net Assets up 63% (£94m) to £244.1m (2005 restated: £150.0m)
• Net Assets per Share up 54% to £1.56 (2005 restated: £1.01)
• Net Debt to Equity reduced to 21% from 29% in 2005
• Net Debt at 31 Dec 2006 increased to £51.8m (2005: £43.3m)
Operational Highlights
• Deep Mining: Stronger market conditions. Improved operating performance
- Power station burn at highest since 1996. Coal now has the
leading share at 41% of UK electricity generation. International coal price up
28% to $68/tonne from $53/tonne
- Ongoing mines output up 9% at 8.2 mt. Sales price per GJ up 4%
at £1.41 per GJ. Total operating cost per GJ down 3% (before Exceptional/
non-recurring Items) at £1.55 per GJ
- Cash cost of production per GJ for ongoing mines down 4%
(before depreciation, amortisation, Exceptional & central costs) at £1.31 per GJ
• Surface Mining: Increased activity
- Reserves with consent up 11% at 4.1 mt
- Reserves seeking consent up 6% (includes applications planned
in the next year)
- Sales price per GJ up 11% at £1.58 per GJ
• Property: Strategy presented. Execution progressing.
Considerable value creation
- RICS property valuation up 25% at £343.9 million. Management
estimate of £800m value in 2006 prices with benefit of permissions being sought
- Planning permission gained for Waverley/Orgreave, Sheffield
for 650,000 sq.ft. of mixed business use. Planning application has been made for
Prince of Wales, Pontefract for 900 homes and 250,000 sq.ft. for mixed business
use. Progression of development JVs and further permissions
• Power Generation: Increased scale and profitability
- Net income up 43% (excluding Emissions Trading Credits)
David Jones, Chairman, commented:
'2006 has been a year of considerable progress for UK COAL. This is reflected in
the increase in our reported profits, the strengthening of our balance sheet and
the development of our strategy to secure sustained value creation.
'In mining, we have made clear that we will focus only on accessing and mining
reserves where there is a clear prospect of creating substantial value over
time. This has led to a reduction in the number of deep mines in operation, as
well as creating an improvement in operating profit and a sounder basis for
developing the business in future. Our sale of the Maltby mine this week
reflects this strategy.
'In property, we have presented the very large store of value which we believe
we can realise, we have put in place a strong property management team and we
have set out our strategy. This has been well received, and we are aggressively
pursuing its execution.
'Overall, during 2006, we have put in place a far stronger platform for future
value creation. 2007 will see the execution of our strategy go a great deal
further, and we face the current financial year with confidence.'
For further information
Financial
Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571
Anthony Carlisle Mobile: 07973 611 888
Laure Lagrange Mobile: 07768 698 731
Brett Jacobs Mobile: 07764 655 423
Operational Tel: 01525 381 759
Stuart Oliver Mobile: 07774 231 178
The following Chairman's Statement is an extract from the Chairman's Statement
as incorporated in the 2006 Annual Report & Accounts.
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Financial results
Recognising the increasing importance of property to the group, we have adopted
the convention of reporting changes in the value of a wider range of our
property interests through the income statement. On this basis, overall
operating profit before Exceptional Items increased to £47.8 million, compared
to £7.4 million for 2005 re-stated, and profit before tax was £17.6 million
compared to a 2005 loss of £32.8 million. The impact of the change in reporting
improved the results by £47.9 million in 2006 and by £29.3 million in the
restated 2005 results.
We have also significantly strengthened our balance sheet. We took advantage of
the sharply positive re-rating of our business by the stock market to strengthen
our capital position through a share placing which raised £29.1 million. We have
recognised deferred tax assets for the first time, and we have included a
greater number of our investment properties at open market value. As a result,
net assets are up by 61%, and net assets per share are up by 54% against their
re-stated 2005 levels.
As required by accounting rules, the financial statements report our Investment
Properties at current fair values. With the benefit of the planning permissions
and development plans we already have in hand, however, we believe this
under-states its potential value by a factor of well over two times.
On pensions, we have made good progress in reducing the deficit in our defined
benefit schemes (which are closed to new members). The deficit has been reduced
by £22.3 million to £95.7 million. This reflects the investment performance of
the pension fund assets and additional contributions paid by the company of £6.4
million. In addition, we have recognised a deferred tax asset of £35.7 million,
which is available to offset against our scheme obligations in future years.
We have managed our cash carefully, whilst continuing to invest significantly in
our businesses and meet the costs of continuing rationalisation. As a result,
our net debt has risen to £51.8 million, compared to £43.3 million; but our net
debt to equity ratio has improved to 21% from 29%.
Board
During the year, we have strengthened our Board further on both the executive
and non-executive side. We are delighted to have welcomed Jon Lloyd, who joined
us last July as Chief Executive of our property business and brings with him a
wealth of property development and management experience. We are also delighted
to have welcomed Mike Toms, who joined as a non-executive director last May,
bringing the considerable experience he has gained as a Town Planner and
Economist and from his senior roles and Board position over the past 25 years
with BAA plc.
Dividend
The Group wishes to conserve cash to invest in our property and mining
businesses in order to drive shareholder value, preserve financial flexibility
and continue to reduce overall risk. For these reasons, the Board is again not
recommending the payment of a final dividend. We will keep this under review;
but future dividends will be dependent on our overall performance.
Outlook
Overall, during 2006, we have put in place a far stronger platform for future
value creation. 2007 will see the execution of our strategy go a great deal
further, and we face the current financial year with confidence.
David Jones, Chairman
1 March 2007
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW
The narrative below is extracted from the full Operating & Financial Review
('OFR') which is incorporated within the 2006 Annual Report & Accounts
Summary Profit Performance by Business Segment
Profit Summary by Segment Deep Mining Surface Property Power Generation Other Total
2006 Mining
Pre-exceptional Operating (29.0) 0.5 73.3 3.1 (0.2) 47.7
(Loss)/Profit
Exceptional Items (24.2) 4.1 - - - (20.1)
Operating (Loss)/Profit (53.2) 4.6 73.3 3.1 (0.2) 27.6
Deep Mining Surface Property Power Generation Other Total
Mining
Profit Summary by Segment
2005 (restated)
Pre-exceptional Operating (46.4) 3.3 45.7 3.3 1.4 7.3
(Loss)/Profit
Exceptional Items (32.0) (2.5) - - 3.1 (31.4)
Operating (Loss)/Profit (78.4) 0.8 45.7 3.3 4.5 (24.1)
Market Overview: Coal
2006 saw the highest coal burn at power stations since 1996, as record gas
prices, coupled with a low carbon price made coal a fuel of choice for
generators for most of the year.
In response to demand, international coal prices rose throughout the year, from
$53/tonne in January to around $68/tonne by the end of 2006. In addition to this
28% rise during the year, the forward curve has also strengthened.
Since 1 January 2005, UK power stations have been required to participate within
the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Generators therefore have to take into account
the price of carbon allowances, together with the relative price of coal and
gas, when determining which station to run. The high price of gas in the first
ten months of the year combined with a low carbon price has encouraged
generators to run their coal stations ahead of their gas plant. In 2006, UK
power stations consumed some 58 million tonnes (2005: 52 million tonnes) of coal
and steam coal imports increased by 11% from 37 million tonnes to 41 million
tonnes.
Electricity Supply Industry
As the table below shows, coal now supplies the largest proportion of the fuel
mix for electricity generation:
2006 2005
% %
Coal 41 37
Gas 29 33
Nuclear 21 21
Oil, hydro & renewables 9 9
Total 100 100
During 2006, the Group's total coal sales to the power station market, were 8.8
million tonnes (2005: 9.1 million tonnes), reflecting lower than expected
production.
The contract cover with all customers, for the five years from, and including,
2007 is 22.1 million tonnes, with supply obligations for 17.7 million tonnes.
The directors believe there remains an appetite among UK COAL customers for
price certainty and secure supply, which the Group is able to satisfy. However,
any future contracts must be based on sales prices that allow UK COAL to recover
the investment and production costs needed to mine the coal, develop further
faces and provide adequate risk adjusted returns. The Group's discussions with
its customers are informed by this stance.
Industrial and Domestic
In April, UK COAL launched a 50:50 joint venture company with Hargreaves
Services plc, called Coal 4 Energy (C4E), to jointly market UK COAL's large and
graded coal in the domestic and general industrial markets and build mutually on
this market position. This business is meeting the expectations of both
parties.
Customers
The profile of UK COAL's business customer base is summarised below, and the
directors do not foresee any material change in the mix of the Group's coal
sales in the foreseeable future.
UK Coal Sales to 2006 2005
Key Markets Tonnes (m) % Tonnes (m) %
Electricity Supply Industry 8.8 90.7 9.1 90.0
Industrial 0.3 3.1 0.4 4.0
Domestic 0.3 3.1 0.3 3.0
Other 0.3 3.1 0.3 3.0
Total 9.7 100.0 10.1 100.0
REVIEW OF OPERATIONS BY BUSINESS
Group Financial Summary by Business
The Group's financial performance is summarised below for each of its business
segments. Further segmental analysis is given in note 2 to the financial
statements.
Profit Summary by Segment Deep Mining Surface Property Power Generation Other Total
2006 Mining
Pre-exceptional Operating (29.0) 0.5 73.3 3.1 (0.2) 47.7
(Loss)/Profit
Exceptional Items (24.2) 4.1 - - - (20.1)
Operating (Loss)/Profit (53.2) 4.6 73.3 3.1 (0.2) 27.6
Deep Mining Surface Property Power Generation Other Total
Mining
Profit Summary by Segment
2005 (restated)
Pre-exceptional Operating (46.4) 3.3 45.7 3.3 1.4 7.3
(Loss)/Profit
Exceptional Items (32.0) (2.5) - - 3.1 (31.4)
Operating (Loss)/Profit (78.4) 0.8 45.7 3.3 4.5 (24.1)
The Group achieved an operating profit of £27.6m (2005 re-stated: £24.1m loss)
including property revaluation gains of £68.6m (2005 restated: £40.7m).
Reported profit includes an accounting policy change which widens the investment
property portfolio which is stated at market valuation in the financial
statements. The effect on profit in 2006 and 2005 as re-stated is set out below
and only affects the property segment.
Property 2006 2005 (Restated)
£m £m
Operating Profit applying 2005 accounting policies 25.4 16.4
Effect of Accounting Policy change 47.9 29.3
Operating Profit (restated 2005) 73.3 45.3
DEEP MINING
Financial Review
Deep mining improved its financial performance, producing a profit before
Exceptional Items over three of the four quarters of the year. In the third
quarter, however, the division faced difficulties on several fronts, which
contributed to a loss of 1.3 million tonnes of production across several mines
equating to some £44m of lost revenues. These factors resulted in a loss for the
year for ongoing mines of £28.0m (2005: £35.0m).
There were significant geological problems at Harworth and Rossington, which
proved insurmountable and ultimately led to the decision to close or mothball
these mines. These mines made an operating loss of £25.2m (2005: £43.4m) and
involved exceptional closure costs of £25.4m (2005: £24.1m).
As a result, total deep mining operating losses for the year were £53.2m (2005:
£78.4m).
Overall, the remaining five deep mines achieved a 9% increase in the Group's
output of coal to 8.2 million tonnes (2005: 7.5 million tonnes), demonstrating a
more robust platform for future operations. The profit performance of the
ongoing mines, which in 2006 included Maltby, and the closed mines is set out in
the table below, noting operating and cash costs per Gigajoule against sales
prices per Gigajoule to indicate levels of production profitability.
2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 2005
£m £m £m £m £m
Ongoing Closed Total Ongoing Closed Total
Turnover 285.6 25.3 310.9 248.6 41.3 289.9
Operating (loss)/profit before (29.2) 0.2 (29.0) (27.1) (19.3) (46.4)
Exceptional Items
Exceptional Items 1.2 (25.4) (24.2) (7.9) (24.1) (32.0)
Operating (Loss) (28.0) (25.2) (53.2) (35.0) (43.4) (78.4)
2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 2005
KPIs: Sales and Costs per Gigajoule Ongoing Closed Total Ongoing Closed Total
Sales per Gigajoule £1.41 £1.40 £1.41 £1.35 £1.37 £1.35
Operating Cost per GJ pre-Exceptional £1.55 £1.66 £1.54 £1.54 £2.16 £1.59
Items
Cash cost per GJ pre-Exceptional £1.31 £1.43 £1.31 £1.39 £1.96 £1.36
Items
* Cash cost is defined as operating costs excluding depreciation, amortisation
and central cash costs of £10m
Operating costs
Total operating costs per GJ reduced in the year to £1.54 (2005: £1.59),
benefiting from lower infrastructure costs at Harworth and Rossington in the run
down to closure in 2006. Operating costs per Gigajoule exclude Exceptional or
significant non-recurring items.
Ongoing mines operating costs per GJ increased to £1.55 per GJ (2005: £1.54)
reflecting the events of the third quarter.
The increase in Sales price to £1.41 per GJ (2005: £1.35) helped to reduce the
scale of losses. The increase in sales price in 2006 and further price increases
expected in 2007 and beyond should provide greater leverage to improve deep
mining profitability in the medium term.
Cash costs per GJ also improved at £1.31 per GJ (2005: £1.36). This excludes
central, capital and exceptional costs, and is disclosed to indicate the level
of unit cash generation from the mines when comparing this cost to sales price
per GJ.
Sale of Maltby
Following the year end, we took the decision to sell our Maltby mine to
Hargreaves Group with a transfer of operational assets and liabilities, together
with the workforce. Hargreaves is the second largest customer for Maltby, and
the benefits to it of owning Maltby's metallurgical coal production and reserves
should improve the security of employment at the mine. The consideration of
£21.5 million results in a profit on disposal of some £13 million. Maltby
delivered an operating loss of some £18 million last year after Exceptional
Items.
Exceptional Items
Exceptional Items of £24.2m (2005: £32.0m) primarily related to the closure of
Harworth and Rossington collieries and to the costs associated with a roof fall
at Maltby. Harworth colliery incurred exceptional costs of £15.8m relating to
costs of closing operations. Of this, £10.3m was incurred in bringing the
colliery to closure. Additionally, assets were written off, including plant and
equipment of £3.6m, and stores stocks of £1.9m. Exceptional costs of £5.3m were
incurred in closing operations at Rossington.
Other Exceptional Items include income of £7.9m (2005: £14.6m) from the Coal
Investment Aid scheme which was in the last year of its operation, and pension
scheme gains of £4.4m (2005: £5.2m) arising from the effect of redundancies. A
full analysis of Exceptional Items in the year by colliery is tabled below:
Exceptional Items Stores Asset write Closure cost Redundancy Other 2006 2005
stock offs Total Total
Deep Mining
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
Closed mines - - - - -
Harworth (1.9) (3.6) (10.3) - - (15.8) (11.6)
Rossington (0.3) (0.2) (4.8) - - (5.3) (14.7)
Central stores write offs (4.3) - - - - (4.3) -
Coal Investment Aid - - - - - - 2.2
Total closed mines (6.5) (3.8) (15.1) 0.0 0.0 (25.4) (24.1)
Maltby - - - - (7.0) (7.0) -
Daw Mill - - - - (2.4) (2.4) -
Kellingley - - - - - - (7.7)
Ellington - - - - - - (8.7)
Other - - - (1.7) 4.4 2.7 (3.9)
Coal Investment Aid - - - - 7.9 7.9 12.4
Total ongoing mines 0.0 0.0 0.0 (1.7) 2.9 1.2 (7.9)
Exceptional Items (6.5) (3.8) (15.1) (1.7) 2.9 (24.1) (32.0)
Cash flow
Total cash outflows for deep mining were £40.2m (2005: £63.6m). Redundancy
payments were made of £10.0m (£16.1m), and payments were made of £11.5m (2005:
£13.4m) to restore and rehabilitate mines and against surface damage and
liability claims. After reducing liabilities, receipts from secured deposits for
coal and insurance claims were £9.9m (2005: £3.1m), and Coal Investment Aid
receipts were £11.1m (2005: £18.5m) in the last year of the scheme. Additional
payments to the pension and concessionary fuel schemes of £6.4m (2005: £6.5m)
reduced pension liabilities accordingly.
Operating Review
With the exception of the third quarter, ongoing deep mines were profitable in
2006.
However, third quarter performance, and our first fatalities since 2001,
overshadowed a year of underlying improvement. Production and operating
performance by colliery are set out below:
Production 2006(mt) 2005 (mt)
Ongoing mines
Daw Mill 2.7 2.0
Kellingley 2.1 2.0
Maltby 0.7 1.1
Thoresby 1.5 1.4
Welbeck 1.2 1.0
Total Ongoing Mines 8.2 7.5
CLOSED MINES
Harworth 0.5 0.8
Rossington 0.2 0.5
Ellington 0.0 0.2
Total Closed Mines 0.7 1.5
Total Deep Mines 8.9 9.0
Ongoing mines
Daw Mill: Output increased to 2.7 million tonnes (2005: 2.0 million tonnes),
although this was overshadowed by two fatalities within two months in 2006, and
an additional fatality since the year-end in January 2007. This has brought the
colliery into a period of intensive health, safety and environmental reviews and
investigations.
The underlying potential of Daw Mill, which has two sets of state of the art
equipment and remaining reserves of some 21.5 million tonnes, however, remains
robust.
Kellingley: Output of 2.1 million tonnes improved on the excellent 2005 result
of 2.0 million tonnes. Productivity was sustained, and continuous production was
achieved despite two face changes. The colliery continues to be strongly
productive in an area of difficult geology with a move planned to a new area of
reserve in 2008. The mine is currently developing into the new reserves, and the
key objectives remain focused on cost efficiencies. During this period of
intensive investment, however, cash generation from this colliery will be
limited.
Maltby: Output of 0.7 million tonnes (2005: 1.1 million tonnes) was severely
impaired by a critical roadway closure throughout Q3 after a major roof fall.
Localised old workings and hard ground severely restricted progress and almost
halted production. The team succeeded in recovering the roadway and full
productivity was restored in Q4 after a difficult and highly challenging
mid-year, with flexibility enhanced by a new five-shift pattern. Since the year
end this colliery has been sold.
Thoresby: Output improved to 1.5 million tonnes (2005: 1.4 million tonnes)
despite a 7 week face gap from August when ground movements prevented recovery
of vital equipment. Operational teams worked hard to overcome major salvage
difficulties and introduced a new more effective four shift pattern for the rest
of 2006, returning the colliery to full productivity.
Welbeck: Output of 1.2 million tonnes exceeded 2005 (1.0 million tonnes)
following a period of intense operational review and revised working practices.
This was achieved despite face gap delays of 15 weeks after encountering
extremely difficult ground conditions caused by nearby old workings, which
greatly slowed down a face transfer. The colliery has now increased round the
clock shift patterns and has reduced face cycle times by up to 30% by increasing
shearer cutting speeds.
Closed and mothballed mines
Harworth coaling was run down from the half year, finishing in August, after
attempts to develop a new face became impossible following geological faulting.
The site is now in a state of care and maintenance to temporarily preserve
access to alternate reserves if economic contracts can be secured.
Rossington ceased production in April 2006, following the extraction of the
final 0.2 million tonnes of coal.
Face Gaps and Operational Costs
The length of face gaps, when production changes from one area of the mine to
another, are a key performance driver of the business. This typically represents
a period of no production when costs are running at normal levels, or in certain
cases slightly higher. There were five face changes in the year, resulting in
three protracted face gaps totalling 26 weeks (2005: 33 weeks). Welbeck had a
face gap of 15 weeks from May to July, Maltby had four weeks in Q1, and Thoresby
seven weeks in Q3.
Management efforts and planning continue to focus on reducing these production
gaps. Face gaps and operating costs by quarter are set out in the following
table:
All Mines: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Face Gaps 2006 (weeks) 4 10 12 0 26
Face Gaps 2005 (weeks) 3 23 7 0 33
Tonnes 2006 (million) 2.9 2.4 1.5 2.1 8.9
Op. Costs per GJ 2006 £1.40 £1.40 £2.47 £1.26 £1.54
Operational costs per GJ improved in 2006 except in Q3 when costs increased due
to factors discussed above.
Productivity
Costs per GJ reduced in the fourth quarter when productivity improvements were
achieved as a result of initiatives to make the mines competitive with foreign
coal suppliers, including:-
• Closure or mothballing of high risk, inefficient areas of
reserve.
• Improved planning on a daily, weekly and long term basis.
• Introduction of project control techniques to improve the
management and accountability through the identification and delivery of
critical activities to time and cost.
• Focus on improving the maintenance regime at the mines in
order to improve machine availability and reduce down time.
• Improving productivity through focus on performance
indicators, cycle time, detailed delay analysis and reduction.
• Introduction of multi-disciplined Operational Improvement
teams.
• Introduction of more efficient technologies from around
the world in all aspects of the underground environment.
At the ongoing mines the workforce agreements launched in 2005 are being
consolidated across all the mines giving a much more flexible system of working.
Future Prospects
In the final quarter of 2006, deep mining production returned to operating
profitability before Exceptional Items.
Forward prices are projected to improve significantly as historic contracts
expire in the next two years, providing improved potential for deep mining cash
generation.
Our strategy continues to focus on mining only where access to reserves is
sufficiently economic. We are also undertaking a wide-ranging operational review
to identify and implement further cost-efficiencies within operations.
We continually review forward price and cost projections to seek out optimal
mining decisions for shareholder value. Decisions have to take account of
long-term as well as short term projections. UK COAL continues to have a healthy
projection of reserves, which will be mined only where economic. Our reserves
potential is described in more detail below.
Reserves
The reserves available in the ongoing deep mines are critical to the long term
prospects of the Group.
The definition of reserves is always subject to some elements of change. UK COAL
continues to utilise the latest technology in seismic exploration, including 3D
representations of seams, to provide better definition of reserves. These
techniques have been used at Daw Mill, Kellingley, and Thoresby to assess the
reserves more effectively. The Group's latest estimate at January 2007 of its
deep mine coal reserves, excluding Maltby, are as follows:
Coal (million tonnes) Reserve Resource Mineral Potential
Total: 173 40 70 63
Reserve: Proven reserves which are accessible using the broad infrastructure in
place at the current time, and which are in the current mining plan.
Resource: Proven reserves, but reserves that require substantial development and
other costs to allow accessibility and are not currently in any mining plan.
Mineral potential: Coal that has been assessed (although possibly not to the
same extent as Reserve and Resource coal) but UK COAL does not have any licenses
or planning permission to extract the deposits.
These figures must be treated with caution, being based on the Group's best
estimate at the current time. A number of factors may cause the actual
production to vary significantly from these estimates, including availability of
government support, future coal prices and geological issues.
SURFACE MINING
Financial Review
Surface mining's financial performance is set out below:
2006 2005
Surface mines Surface mines
£m £m
Turnover 21.7 33.4
Operating profit before Exceptional Items 0.5 3.3
Exceptional Items 4.1 (2.5)
Operating profit 4.6 0.8
KPIs
Sales per GJ 1.58 1.42
Controllable cash costs per GJ 1.46 1.25
Operating cost per GJ 1.87 1.31
(before Exceptional Items and provision releases)
Surface mining achieved a small profit on output of 0.6 million tonnes (2005:
1.0 million tonnes). Profitability was held back, with only one site operating
for most of the year and three sites being developed, increasing operating cost
per GJ to £1.87 (2005: £1.31). The result includes provision releases of £5.4m
mainly in respect of restoration liabilities in the North East which have been
reassessed now that we have planning permission to extract coal in adjacent
reserves.
Exceptional income of £4.1m includes gains of £4.4m from the disposal of
unutilised plant, and £0.3m related to redundancy.
Operating Review
With the completion of coaling at Orgreave in January 2006, the Group operated
for most of 2006 with only one surface mine, Maidens Hall, in Northumberland.
This has since been supplemented by operations commencing at Stony Heap in
August 2006, and Stobswood North and Cutacre in December.
Surface mining made good progress in developing its potential reserves in 2006
to 14.1 million tonnes, including applications planned to be submitted in 2007
(2005: 13.1 million tonnes). Planning approval was gained for two sites in 2006.
Reserves with planning consent at the year end were 4.1 million tonnes (2005:
3.7 million tonnes), and planning applications submitted in the year were 5.4
million tonnes (2005: 5.1 million tonnes). Applications expected to be submitted
in the new financial year amount to 4.6 million tonnes (2005: 4.3 million
tonnes).
Future Prospects
UK COAL owns approximately 97 million tonnes of surface coal reserves situated
under its owned land, which, at current prices, should be capable of economic
extraction. With the import of coal potentially restrained by port and rail
capacity in the country, our reserves should form an important national resource
with economic value.
Although planning permission for coaling has been difficult to obtain in
previous years, UK COAL believes this attitude is changing and is confident
that, in future, schemes can be progressed. The Group is continuing its efforts
to obtain further planning permission based on improvements in the environmental
acceptability of brownfield site regeneration. The end result will be both
additional domestic production and sites restored to a standard and at a cost
which would be prohibitive without prior mining.
The Group has significant surface mining plant, equipment and expertise and is
actively looking at additional sites in England, Scotland and Wales in order
that these resources may be used efficiently.
A summary of remaining Reserves through the various stages of planning is set
out in the table below:
Surface Mines - Reserves Estimated Estimated
(in thousands of tonnes) Reserves Reserves
Site Dec 2006 Dec 2005
Maiden Hall Extension 465 920
Cutacre 1,495 1,500
Stony Heap 174 257
North Stobswood 969 987
Steadburn 1,000 -
Sites with Planning Consent Gained 4,103 3,664
Sharlston 360 360
Steadburn (consent gained in 2006) - 1,000
Long Moor 725 725
Lodge House 1,000 1,000
Potland Burn 2,000 2,000
Oxcroft 15 -
Park Wall North 1,250 -
Sites submitted for Planning 5,350 5,085
Huntington Lane 900 650
Park Wall North - 1,000
Blair House 700 1,000
Chesterfield Canal 500 400
Bradley 500 500
Minorca 1,000 800
Butterwell 1,000 -
Sites to be submitted in the next year 4,600 4,350
Remaining Reserves in Process 14,053 13,099
PROPERTY
Financial Review
The property business performed strongly, achieving a 25% increase in both
market valuation of its assets to £343.9m (2005: £274.2m) and gross rental
income of £6.0m (2005: £4.8m) mainly due to business parks income growth. This
lifted net rental profits to £3.3m (2005: £2.3m). After revaluation gains of
£68.6m (2005: £40.7m), property activities generated a profit of £73.3m (2005:
£45.7m).
2006 2005
Property Property
Restated
£m £m
Turnover - Agricultural Land 2.6 2.7
Turnover - Business Parks 3.4 2.1
Gross Rental Income 6.0 4.8
Operating Costs (2.7) (2.5)
Net Rental income 3.3 2.3
Profit on sale of assets* 1.4 2.7
Operating profit 4.7 5.0
Revaluation gains 68.6 40.7
Total profit before interest and tax 73.3 45.7
* Disposal profits on a historic cost basis were £10.7m (2005:£9.6m)
A strategic review of our property portfolio was completed in November,
indicating significant potential for value creation.
The great majority of our land is agricultural and is likely to remain so for
the long term. This land provides a flow of rental income and portions of it may
be selectively sold, thereby also potentially providing capital that can be
redeployed into higher return brownfield site development activity.
A portion of our land supports our continuing mining operations and provides
sites which may become surface mines with appropriate permissions - in a number
of cases also providing a potential pipeline of future development sites, once
mining activities are completed and the land is restored.
Within our land portfolio, there are also a number of sites which represent
considerable potential for development and consequential considerable value
creation. These represent the core of our brownfield site development proposals
and activities and are reported on below.
Accounting Policy Change
The Group has revised its accounting policies during the year to bring the
market value of its full range of properties held for investment on to the
balance sheet.
Group properties are now classified either as:
• Investment Properties. These are valued at market value if held for
capital growth, or rental income, or both, or
• Operating Properties. These are properties used in the business and
are held at historic or deemed cost from when consent to mine is gained until
mining completes.
The group accounting policy of recognising initial revaluations in reserves and
subsequent revaluations in the income statement is unchanged. This is in
accordance with International Accounting Standards.
The accounting policy change increased gains in the income statement by £47.9m
(2005: £29.3m) and the property values in the balance sheet by £213.7m (2005:
£165.7m).
Deferred taxation of £1.1m (2005: £1.0m) has been provided on revaluation gains.
The vast majority of UK COAL's property has capital losses available to offset
taxable valuation gains, and therefore no significant deferred tax liability has
been incurred.
Expenditure on property development activities (net of grants) amounted to £3.4m
(2005: £7.3m).
The significant increase in the value of the property portfolio in 2006 of
£68.6m (2005: £40.7m) was recorded on the balance sheet. Gains in the value of
property do not involve a cash flow until they are realised on sale. As a
result, this item does not appear in the cash flow statement
Operating Review
On 3 July, Jon Lloyd joined the Group board as Chief Executive of Property.
Under his direction, a strategic appraisal of the Group's property business was
completed and presented externally in November, outlining the Group's inherent
property value and development strategy. This was well received and has led to
a substantial market reappraisal of the potential value of our property
business.
The operating structure of the property business has been further strengthened
by three key appointments, Development Director, Estates Director and Forward
Planning Manager. The Development Director will lead delivery on the planning
consents and on-site infrastructure and it's appropriate development through the
direction of highly skilled and motivated external project teams. The Estates
Director and Forward Planning Manager will focus on growing the asset base and
half yearly portfolio valuations by identifying and bringing forward additional
properties over and above the 2,650 acres identified in the November 2006
presentation.
The Harworth Estates portfolio RICS valuation at the year end is summarised in
the table below:
Like-for-like
Dec 2006 Dec 2005 Dec 2005 to Dec
2006
Business Parks 48,300 36,960 29.7%
Commercial with planning 23,200 30,060 17.4%
Other commercial & residential 157,312 116,164 34.8%
Agricultural 115,110 90,985 31.4%
Total 343,922 274,169 33.8%
The valuation is before the deduction of rehabilitation and restoration costs of
£51.7m (2005: £66.4m), which are provided in the accounts and relate mainly to
working surface mines and sites in aftercare. On a like for like basis, taking
into account disposals and development expenditure, the property portfolio has
shown a gain of £86m (34%). On a net basis after disposals and acquisitions, the
portfolio value has increased by £69.7m, being 25%.
We expect, however, that the valuation of UK COAL's property interest with the
benefit of the planning permissions currently in hand and envisaged would be
substantially greater than the valuation of our land and property interests in
their current usage and, in 2006 prices, could be around £800m by 2012.
Principal development activity
The principal areas of development activity in 2006 are summarised below.
Waverley/Orgreave, Rotherham
Planning approval was granted at Waverley for a business park area of 650,000 sq
ft offering mixed use. Work is progressing towards submitting further planning
applications to create a new community which in total will include up to 4,000
new homes, a 60 acre business park, 20 acres other community use (social, health
and education) and a 300 acre country park. The Advanced Manufacturing Park is
already well established on this site and includes a number of companies
involved in the high-tech metals and aviation industries.
Prince of Wales, Pontefract
We submitted a planning application to Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council at
the end of 2006 for the redevelopment and regeneration of this major site. The
planning application includes over 900 homes and 250,000 sq ft of employment
space along with community facilities. We have engaged in substantial pre-
application discussions with the Local Authority and other interested parties
and are hopeful that planning approval will be granted during the middle of
2007.
Other Developments
We are continuing to progress a large number of other development projects and
have entered in to a number of arrangements with blue chip key partners which
will help us maximise value from these developments. We are discussing further
opportunities and carrying on the process of working up new schemes to ensure we
continue to add value across the whole of the portfolio.
Business Parks
Our business parks continue to be well-tenanted and attract strong demand when
units become available. We are currently agreeing terms to add further capacity
to our Asfordby business park with construction of a new, pre-let, building and
will continue to develop this area of the business.
Sales
We have continued our policy of disposing of land assets where we have maximised
value. This has included land at our Tetron and Denby developments, both of
which are now nearly sold out, and a successful auction of agricultural land
which had little or no development potential, achieving proceeds some 60% above
our market expectations for the 1,700 acres sold.
Development Market Conditions
The majority of our development land identified is classified as brownfield and
as such, is well positioned to respond to and benefit from evolving Government
policy. Kate Barker's report for the Government in December 2006 foreshadows
changing planning policy and processes that should both streamline the planning
timeline for our major sites and give further confidence as to the likelihood of
planning success.
Recent announcements by the Department of Communities and Local Government set a
very strong platform from which we intend to build a nationally significant
residential development land bank. We will realise this through working in
partnerships with some of the UK's most successful house builders.
Demand for our mixed use employment sites and our increasing residential
development sites remains strong and we expect it to be robust for the period of
our initial property strategy articulated to shareholders in November 2006.
Rental income from our existing business parks and our agricultural estate is
expected to continue to grow. The primary opportunity for income and trading
profits will come from the gaining of planning consents for our mixed use
employment land and residential development sites. Success will be measured
initially by targeting and achieving planning consents for the maximum possible
acreage of employment development and optimum number of housing units. Our
participation in the residential market will principally be by way of gaining
consents and disposing of serviced sites to major house builders who will pay
both full market value and offer a share of any super profit created during the
build-out phase. We will both sell serviced plots and progressively build out a
number of our mixed use sites with best in class development partners.
Future Prospects
The Group is currently managing around 60 separate property projects and
continues to seek out additional opportunities. In the short term, it is the
intention of management to maintain, and enhance where possible, the current
income streams while adding value by:
• Completing master planning and gaining planning consents at our
key development sites;
• Completing construction and letting of development properties;
• Commencement of master planning at appropriate sites;
• Constructing new buildings at existing business parks, where
demand for pre-let accommodation is strong;
• Continuing the process of securing planning at sites where
there is the opportunity to create value through new commercial or residential
development;
• Identifying specific opportunities to extend the development
programmed beyond the initial 60 sites
• Specifically focusing on bringing forward a premium mixed use
business park at Cutacre Bolton
• Exploiting the agricultural portfolio for surface mining,
residential development and possible disposals of surplus land and properties.
Valuation
A full independent property valuation of all our properties in current usage was
carried out at 31 December 2006 in accordance with the 'RICS Appraisal and
Valuation Standards' published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Of the portfolio valuation, £311.7m (2005: £251.2m), is recognised in the
balance sheet at market value under investment properties.
POWER GENERATION
Financial Performance
Harworth Power's financial performance is set out in the table below:
2006 2005
£m £m
External revenue 0.3 0.9
Inter company revenue 6.2 3.3
Total Revenue 6.5 4.2
Emissions Trading credits 1.8 2.4
Methane costs (1.8) (0.5)
Other costs (3.3) (2.7)
Operating profit 3.2 3.4
KPIs:
MWh generated 119,717 104,526
£ net income/MWh (excluding Emissions Trading Credits) £10.94 £8.76
Operating profit (excluding Emissions Trading income) grew by 43% to £1.3m
(2005: £0.9m) from a 15% increase in electricity generation to 119,717 MwH
(2005: 104,526 MwH), on improved power prices and lower operating costs
following a review of operating practices. Our total operating profit of £3.2m
(2005: £3.4m) reflects the improved operating performance and reduced benefit of
UK Emissions Trading scheme credits for which 2006 represented the last year of
operation. We are awaiting the final approval from the MoD before we start work
on our Royal Oak site. We hope this will be later in the year.
Harworth Power has continued to progress a series of planning applications to
install wind turbines on Group property where this is economic and represents
the best use for the properties concerned, or can be combined with a sustainable
property development. The planning process is lengthy. However, Harworth Power
currently is progressing applications for 40 turbines, with a land bank
containing further suitable sites which will be progressed when appropriate.
During 2006 a planning application for a wind Farm at Stonish Hill consisting of
7 turbines was turned down, although an appeal is currently being pursued. A
further project at Lynemouth in Northumberland is currently under consideration
by the local planning authority with determination due early in 2007. Three
further projects are at varying stages of development for submission in 2007.
Future Prospects
Coal Mine Methane
We expect to continue to extract methane from existing sites, while the new
capacity installation at Harworth mine will offset some of its mothballing
costs.
Increased generation is forecast with the installation of new engines at mine
sites where methane capture is being improved. Capital will be invested where
adequate returns are available, principally in the installation of new engines
at mine sites. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme finished at the end of 2006,
reducing the incentive to invest in certain emissions reduction projects.
Harworth Power is actively involved in discussions as to the form of any
replacement scheme.
Wind farms
The Group plans to progress further applications in respect of 30 turbines
generating 60MW during 2007.
Harworth Power continues to identify other opportunities to generate additional
power utilising renewable energy sources, assessing the commercial strengths and
risks of these schemes and the level of investment needed to make investment in
those schemes match the returns required by the Group.
OTHER BUSINESSES
Other businesses comprise our new joint venture, Coal 4 Energy, which made a
£0.1m profit, and LHTC (Lionheart Trading Company) Ltd, a wholly owned
subsidiary company, which mainly provides group support services and
maintenance. Overall profits were £0.2m. 2005 profits of £5.2m related to
businesses and assets now disposed of.
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
UK COAL's net assets of £244.1m (2005 restated: £150.0m) comprise four major
elements:
2006 2005
£m £m
Property mainly at market value 326.8 265.4
Mines acquired and machinery at depreciated cost 224.0 244.9
Provisions for future costs and pensions deficits (233.1) (317.4)
Net debt and working capital to fund operations (73.6) (42.9)
Total net assets £244.1m £150.0m
Provisions
Deep mining provisions of £93.4m (2005: £106.0m) are held for all future costs
where an obligation exists at the balance sheet date. Of these provisions,
£39.7m (2005: £40.0m) are funded by ring-fenced deposits, and £74.2m (2005:
£70.8m) are expected to fall due after more than one year. Provisions have been
made for employer and public liabilities, surface damage relating to deep mines
activities, restoration and closure costs of deep mines, spoil heap care
obligations, pumping costs and groundwater contamination. Redundancy provisions
have been made for obligations only if they exist at the balance sheet date.
Retirement benefit provisions
The Group has a deficit of £120.4m (2005: £142.3m) on its defined benefit
pension and retirement schemes, combined with it's concessionary fuel reserve,
and are valued annually by independent actuaries applying International
Accounting Standard (IAS) 19.
The deficit reduction in 2006 of £21.9m comprises:
• Net actuarial gains of £11.6m (2005: £14.3m loss) arising
mainly from higher than expected asset returns. The gains are reported within
reserves in the statement of recognised income and expense (SORIE).
• Additional payments to the pensions and benefit schemes of
£6.4m (2005: £6.5m) representing the net difference between employer
contributions payments made of £21.0m (2005: £19.3m) and the actuary's
calculation of the costs of benefits accrued in the year.
• Gains on curtailments of £4.3m (2005: £5.2m) due to redundancy
levels. These are reported in the income statement as Exceptional Items.
• A deficit increase of £0.4m (2005: £2.8m), from interest costs
on scheme liabilities exceeding expected asset returns, which is charged to
income.
Taxation
Deferred taxation assets of £35.7m (2005: nil) are now recognised on the balance
sheet. This represents tax relief anticipated to be available from future
payments into the pension scheme to reduce the deficit.
The full scale and origin of UK COAL deferred tax assets, recognised and
unrecognised in the financial statements, is set out below.
Due to the availability of losses within the Group, there is no current tax
charge for the period. The Group has potential gross deferred tax assets as at
31 December 2006 of £369.6m representing potential future tax savings of
£110.9m.
Group net debt
The Group secures borrowings against its property and operational assets. In
total across the four business segments this amounted to £152m of facilities
comprising a revolving credit facility of £54m, overdraft facilities of £10m,
£66m secured on property, £9m on surface mining plant, and £13m of finance lease
debt outstanding. Average maturity of the facilities was 2.2 years (2005: 1.8
years).
Total borrowings of £97.7m (£2005: £96.5m) were drawn against debt facilities at
the year-end, leaving borrowing headroom of £47.3m (2005: £9.0m). Net debt
including ring-fenced cash deposits was £51.8m (2005: £43.3m). Net Debt to
Equity reduced to 21% from 29% in 2005 mainly as a result of increased property
asset values recognised on the balance sheet.
Interest
The Group incurred £5.7m (2005: £3.6m) of financing costs in the year on average
debt throughout 2006 of £50m (2005: £28m). Financing costs include £1.0m charged
in amortisation of fees.
A summary of debt funding is set out below.
2006 2005
£m £m
Cash deposited to cover insurance requirements 19.6 25.4
Subsidence security fund 22.7 26.8
Other cash balances* 3.6 1.0
Cash and cash equivalents 45.9 53.2
Debt (84.1) (75.3)
Finance leases and hire purchase contracts (13.6) (21.2)
Borrowings (97.7) (96.5)
Net (borrowings) / funds (51.8) (43.3)
*Cash balances within net funds of £45.9m include £2.1m cash balances held for
restricted use subject to property sale completion.
Contingent liability
Guarantees have been given in the normal course of business for performance
bonds of £2.5m (2005: £ 2.1m) to cover the performance of work under a number of
Group contracts.
There are no other contingent liabilities.
Consolidated Income Statement
for the year ended 31 December
2006 2005
Notes £000 £000
Continuing operations Restated
Revenue 2 339,713 341,214
Cost of sales (381,021) (417,136)
Gross loss (41,308) (75,922)
Coal Investment Aid 4 7,892 14,641
Net appreciation in fair value of 68,622 40,668
investment properties
Profit on disposal of operating 416 463
property, plant and equipment
Profit on disposal of investment 1,406 2,746
properties
Profit on sale of business - 3,100
Other operating income and (9,383) (9,756)
expenses
Operating profit/ (loss) 27,645 (24,060)
Finance costs 5 (12,376) (11,753)
Finance income 5 2,261 2,992
Finance costs - net 5 (10,115) (8,761)
Share of post-tax profit from 105 -
joint ventures
Profit/ (loss) before tax 17,635 (32,821)
Tax (143) -
Profit/ (loss) for the year from 17,492 (32,821)
continuing activities
Discontinued operations
Loss for the year from - (72)
discontinued operations
Total loss from discontinued - (72)
operations
Profit/ (loss) for the year 17,492 (32,893)
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the Company 17,492 (32,893)
Earnings per share pence pence
Restated
From continuing operations:
Basic and diluted 11.7 (22.1)
From discontinued operations:
Basic and diluted - -
From total operations:
Basic and diluted 11.7 (22.1)
The 2005 figures have been restated following a change in accounting policy to widen the Group's definition of
investment property (see Note 6).
Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expense
for the year ended 31 December
Group Company
2006 2005 2006 2005
Notes £000 £000 £000 £000
Restated
Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined 10
benefit pension schemes 12,478 (10,286) - -
Actuarial loss on concessionary 10
fuel reserve (855) (3,995) - -
Movement on deferred tax asset relating
to retirement benefit liabilities 35,752 - - -
Property revaluation on transfer to 7
investment properties - 53,370 - -
Net gain recognised directly in
equity 47,375 39,089 - -
Profit/(loss) for the year
17,492 (32,893) (1,700) (22,878)
64,867 6,196 (1,700) (22,878)
Prior year adjustment - 6
investment properties 164,719
229,586
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the Company
64,867 6,196 (1,700) (22,878)
Balance Sheets
at 31 December
Group Group Company Company
2006 2005 2006 2005
Notes £000 £000 £000 £000
ASSETS Restated
Non current assets
Operating property, plant and equipment 6 237,942 254,387 - -
Investment properties 7 311,677 251,161 - -
Investments in subsidiaries - - 473,224 473,224
Investment in joint venture 205 - - -
Deferred tax asset 35,752 - - -
Trade and other receivables 964 4,728 - -
586,540 510,276 473,224 473,224
Current assets
Inventories 36,640 42,168 - -
Trade and other receivables 47,604 63,312 167,340 137,168
Derivative financial instruments 675 - 675 -
Cash and cash equivalents 45,928 53,220 2,548 425
130,847 158,700 170,563 137,593
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Financial liabilities
- Borrowings 8 (15,501) (62,986) (12,476) (52,395)
Trade and other payables (106,284) (104,927) (189,687) (144,220)
Provisions 9 (27,931) (52,320) - -
(149,716) (220,233) (202,163) (196,615)
Net current liabilities (18,869) (61,533) (31,600) (59,022)
Non current liabilities
Financial liabilities
- Borrowings 8 (82,264) (33,555) - -
- Derivative financial instruments - (55) - -
Trade and other payables (312) - - -
Deferred tax liabilities (1,172) (1,029) - -
Provisions 9 (119,309) (121,778) - -
Retirement benefit obligations 10 (120,495) (142,338) - -
(323,552) (298,755) - -
Net assets 244,119 149,988 441,624 414,202
Equity
Capital and reserves
Ordinary shares 1,566 1,485 1,566 1,485
Share premium 30,756 1,771 30,756 1,771
Revaluation reserve 141,040 141,040 - -
Capital redemption reserve 257 257 257 257
Fair value reserve 112,342 40,668 - -
(Deficit on) / retained earnings (41,842) (35,233) 409,045 410,689
Total equity 244,119 149,988 441,624 414,202
The financial statements on pages 1 to 15 were approved by the Board of
Directors on 1 March 2007 and were signed on its behalf by:
G R Spindler C Mawe
Chief Executive Finance Director
Cash Flow Statements
for the year ended 31 December
Group Group Company Company
2006 2005 2006 2005
£000 £000 £000 £000
Restated
Cash flows from operating
activities
Profit/(loss) for the year 17,492 (32,893) (1,842) (22,878)
Depreciation / impairment of property, -
plant and equipment 45,577 52,030 -
Net fair value appreciation in -
investment properties (68,622) (40,668) -
Net interest payable and amortisation
of discount on provisions 10,115 8,376 2,654 3,750
Net charge for share based
remuneration 198 173 198 173
Net capitalised surface mine
development and restoration costs (5,382) (2,298) - -
Profit on disposal of investment
property (1,406) (2,746) - -
Profit on disposal of operating
property, plant and equipment (416) (463) - -
Profit on sale of interests in
businesses - (3,100) - -
Decrease in provisions (36,246) (21,378) - -
Tax 143 72 - 72
Operating cash flows before movements
in working capital (38,547) (42,895) 1,010 (18,883)
Decrease in stocks 5,527 2,004 - -
Decrease / (increase) in
receivables 18,797 (1,551) (30,847) 29,376
Decrease/(Increase) in payables (5,072) (2,376) 45,466 (45,967)
Cash (used in)/generated from
operations (19,295) (44,818) 15,629 (35,474)
Tax paid - (72) - (72)
Financing cost (1,028) (738) - -
Interest paid (6,939) (5,744) (3,322) (4,276)
Cash (used in)/generated from
operating activities (27,262) (51,372) 12,307 (39,822)
Cash flows from investing
activities
Interest received 2,261 2,992 668 526
Net receipt from insurance and
subsidence security funds 9,915 3,075 - -
Disposal of businesses - 8,844 - -
Proceeds on disposal of property,
plant and equipment 24,191 15,861 - -
Investment in joint venture
company (205) - - -
Net purchase of shares in
subsidiaries - - - (26)
Development costs of investment
properties (3,256) (8,082) - -
Purchase of operating property,
plant and equipment (33,312) (19,433) - -
Cash (used in)/generated from
investing activities (406) 3,257 668 500
Cash flows from financing
activities
Proceeds from issue of ordinary
shares 29,067 1,672 29,067 1,672
Net drawdown of bank loans
8,829 63,464 (39,919) 39,275
Proceeds from new finance leases
359 4,939 - -
Repayments of obligations under hire
purchase and finance leases (7,964) (19,799) - -
Dividends paid to shareholders - (1,483) - (1,483)
Cash generated from financing
activities 30,291 48,793 (10,852) 39,464
Increase in cash 2,623 678 2,123 142
At 1 January
Cash 1,004 326 425 283
Cash equivalents 52,216 55,291 - -
53,220 55,617 425 283
Reduction in cash equivalents (net receipt from
insurance and subsidence security funds) (9,915) (3,075) - -
Increase in cash 2,623 678 2,123 142
45,928 53,220 2,548 425
At 31 December
Cash 3,627 1,004 2,548 425
Cash equivalents 42,301 52,216 - -
Cash and cash equivalents 45,928 53,220 2,548 425
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