New Hope Corporation, an Australian coal miner, posted a 7.7% decline in its annual profit, missing expectations, as lower realized pricing outweighed increased sales volume.

The company's average sales price was A$157 per tonne, down 14.3% from the previous year.

New Hope reported that its New Acland Mine had faced rail capacity challenges in the quarter ending April 30. Rail network constraints caused a "significant increase" in inventory.

New Hope's coal sales increased 21.4% over the last year despite significant weather challenges.

It declared a dividend of 15 Australian Cents per share, compared to 22 Australian Cents a year ago.

The miner reported that its net profit for the year ended on July 31 was A$439.4 (US$293.04) million, down from A$475.9 reported one year ago. Visible Alpha had estimated A$455.9m.

(source: Reuters)