Yanzhou Coal sees stronger H1 as coal price rises

HONG KONG, July 26 (Reuters) - Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (1171.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) revised up its profit estimate for the first half of 2008, saying it now expected earnings to jump by at least 220 percent as coal prices continued to rise.

Yanzhou Coal (600188.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), China's No. 3 coal producer by market value, had previously estimated net profit for the first six months of 2008 to increase by over 100 percent based on the coal price for the first quarter of the year, it said.

The company posted a net profit of 1.11 billion yuan ($162.8 million) for the six months to the end of June, 2007. It gave no further details.

For statement please see here 0725307.pdf Shares of Yanzhou Coal have fallen about 12.9 percent so far in 2008 to end at HK$13.46 on Friday. ($1=HK$7.8=6.818 yuan) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Lincoln Feast)