NEW DELHI: Coal India has reported a 17.7% decline in its Q4 net profit at R5,527.62 crore compared with R6,715 crore in the same quarter last year primarily due to increased provision towards wages. "PAT would have been the highest ever profit in any quarter had the provision not been made," the company said.
However, for the full fiscal, the company posted a 62% jump in its net profit at R28,125 crore compared with R 17,378 crore in FY22. The company said this was despite provisioning R8,153 crore in the accounts in 2022-23 towards wage revision of CIL’s non-executive manpower.
CIL lifted its profit into higher orbit despite the company capping its coal prices for over the past five years amidst rising input costs, especially diesel and explosives and increased wage costs due to provisioning in the accounts.
The company’s board met on 7 May and recommended the payment of a final dividend of R4 per share. Earlier in two tranches, a total dividend of R20.25 per share was already paid out. Coal India's net sales were the highest ever for Q4 as well as for FY23. Net sales at R35,161 crore in Q4 of FY23 were up by 17% compared with R29,985 crore of the fourth quarter FY22.
For the full year of 2022-23, CIL’s net sales stood at R1,27,627 crore. This is a jump of 27% compared with R1,00,563 crore of the preceding fiscal. Wages of non-executive workers, which account for 94% of Coal India's workforce, are revised every five years. The hike is due in July 2021. In 2017, CIL signed a wage agreement with worker unions proposing a 20% hike in salaries for five years. Coal India has a total workforce of 2.59 lakh.