17th Jan 2007 08:27
Rio Tinto PLC17 January 2007 Rio Tinto's 75.7 per cent owned subsidiary, Coal & Allied Industries Limited,issued the following news release in Australia. All dollars are Australiancurrency. Coal and Allied earnings outlook for 2006 Coal & Allied today announced that, as a result of significant shippingcongestion at the Port of Newcastle and consequently increased operating costs,its expected earnings would be in the order of A$60 million for the second halfof 2006. This expected result compares with first half earnings in 2006 of A$146.5million and 2005 second half earnings of A$163.7 million. Managing Director of Coal & Allied, Mr Douglas Ritchie said, "Second half 2006revenues were substantially impacted by congestion at the Port of Newcastle dueto a shortage of capacity in the Hunter Valley coal chain." "The significant shipping queues, particularly in November and December, havenot only impacted sales volumes and demurrage but they have had flow-on effectsthrough the production chain, leading to lower volumes and productioninefficiencies. "As noted in our 2006 half year results, the rising cost of business inputsbeing experienced by the industry is imposing increased costs on Coal & Allied.This has further contributed to lower earnings in the second half of the year." Coal & Allied will release its full year 2006 results on 29 January 2007. For further information, please contact: LONDON AUSTRALIA Media Relations Media RelationsNick Cobban Ian HeadOffice: +44 (0) 20 7753 2305 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 041 003 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 360 101 Investor Relations Investor RelationsNigel Jones Dave SkinnerOffice: +44 (0) 20 7753 2401 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 227 365 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 335 309 David Ovington Susie CreswellOffice: +44 (0) 20 7753 2326 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3639Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978 Mobile: +61 (0) 418 933 792 Website: www.riotinto.comHigh resolution photographs available at: www.newscast.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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