(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Beijing April 27 - China Shenhua Energy the country's largest coal producer posted a decline in first-quarter net profit compared with a year earlier citing falling coal prices.
Net profit went down 9.9 percent to 10.4 billion Yuan (about 1.66 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months said a report on the website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
During the January-March period Shenhua Energy's revenue dipped 0.1 percent on an annual basis to 60.9 billion Yuan it added.
The Beijing-based company attributed the poor performance mainly to rising production costs and falling coal prices.
While the cost of producing every tonne of coal increased 4.6 percent on an annual basis to 127.8 Yuan the Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index a key indicator of coal prices in China plummeted from 631 Yuan per tonne at the end of last year to 530 Yuan at the end of March down by 16 percent.
In addition to weak demand the company also blamed growing coal imports which rose 5.1 percent to 84 million tonnes in the first quarter.
The coal producer painted a gloomy picture for the coal-making industry in the second quarter of this year due to weaker demand and the government's drive to readjust energy structure to cleaner fuels.
Meanwhile China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. the country's largest life insurer declared its net profits down 28 percent year on year to 7.23 billion Yuan (1.17 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2014.
The company's income on investment declined 7 percent year on year to 24.18 billion Yuan the insurer said. The operating revenue rose 11.5 percent to 154.21 billion Yuan.
By the end of March the company's total investment assets hit 1.92 trillion Yuan a net investment return ratio of 5.06 percent.
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