Russian coal producer, Raspadskaya, has posted a 1H 2010 net profit of $228 million under IFRS.

The bottom line jumped from a 1H 2009 net profit of $365,000 , with 1H EBITDA rising from $63 million to $259 million, as 1H revenues climbed from $148 million to $466 million

Raspadskaya’s CEO, Gennady Kozovoy, noted the impact of the tragedy on 9 May 2010, which saw more than 70 miners killed in an explosion, and which also cut production capacity and caused $41 million in damage. Kozovoy added that the $280 million reconstruction project was underway.

“A big human tragedy occurred. We commiserate with the families and loved ones of our deceased colleagues and rescuers and continue moving toward our main goal – finding the missing miners.

Till the end of the year, we have a large amount of work to do at Raspadskaya mine. We continue to pump the water out of the flooded areas of the mine. Since 18 August, the pumping has followed an established schedule. By the middle of September a project for the extinguishing of the fire has been prepared. The project is passing authorization from MChS and RosTechNadzor.”

Despite the tragedy the Company managed to significantly improve its financials, due to more favourable prices and increasingly efficient production. Kozovoy was upbeat about the results adding that after the explosion the company’s focus was on domestic markets.

“In 1H2010, we significantly increased volumes of sales to the Asian market (China, Republic of Korea) – their share in our total sales volumes was 23%. However, after the accident, we have focused on sales to Russian customers only – at present, we sell to eight Russian plants.”