Shanghai-listed China Coal Energy company Ltd., one of the country's leading coal producers, said on Sunday night its 2008 profit rose 17.7 percent year on year amid rising coal price and production.

The company said in its annual report that net profit was 6.81 billion yuan (about US$1 billion), or 0.52 yuan per share in 2008 under the domestic accounting rule and 7.1 billion yuan under the international accounting rule.

China Coal Energy attributed the increase in profit mainly to the outstanding performance of its coal sector which benefited from rising production and coal price.

The company produced 100.37 million tonnes of coal in 2008, representing an increase of 10.9 percent over 2007's 90.52 million tonnes. Meanwhile, coal prices rose more than 20 percent year on year.

Business revenue of the company in 2008 was 51.47 billion yuan, representing an increase of 42.8 percent over the previous year, while revenue in coal sector topped 38.3 billion yuan, up 40.6 percent year on year, according to the report.

Wang An, China Coal Energy board chairman, said: "The company will continue to expend both domestic and overseas markets in the future and enhance coal production and upgrade production equipment."

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2009)