Coal India still short of 50% of FY25 output target as October production rises just 2%

Coal India has not yet reached half of its output target for the 2025 financial year, seven months into the year, according to its production and offtake data for October.

Production for October rose 2.3% year-on-year to 62.5 million tonnes (MT) from 61.1 MT last year.

For the April-October period, Coal India’s production rose 2.5% year-on-year to 403.8 tonnes, which is 48% of Coal India’s total production target of 838 tonnes for the year.

Coal India generally reports lower output in the first half of a financial year due to the monsoon months, while output picks up in the second half of the year.

Intake for October remained steady, registering a marginal decrease of 0.5% compared to October last year, to 61.4 MT. For the April-October period, India’s coal consumption rose 1.5% to 428.5 MT.

Among Coal India’s subsidiaries, Eastern Coalfields, Central Coalfields, Northern Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields saw an increase in production between 8% and 11%, while others saw a decline in production ranging from a decline of 5.5 % up to 11.1% compared to last year. .

Coal India has not set any repayment target for this year.

Brokerage firm Jefferies, in a note dated October 28, wrote that it remains positive on Coal India as it believes that India’s strong economic growth prospects should fuel healthy volume growth for the company in the coming years, and a large of e-auction prices is now behind.

At a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.3 times for financial year 2026, Coal India’s valuations are still attractive, according to Jefferies.

However, the brokerage cut Coal India’s FY2025-27 earnings per share (EPS) estimate by 2-3%.

Out of the 26 analysts who have coverage on Coal India, 19 of them have a buy rating on the stock, four say a hold, while three of them have a sell rating on the stock.

Shares of Coal India ended 0.8% higher at ₹452.55 on Thursday. The stock is up 18% so far in 2024.