Coal India Q4 Net Slips 5%, Lags Estimate

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>State miner Coal India, which earlier this year reversed a price increase under pressure from power producers, reported a 5 per cent decline in quarterly profits, weighed down by stagnant volumes and a steep increase in wage bills.<br><br>The world's largest coal miner said net profit fell to Rs 4,013 crore from Rs 4,221 crore a year earlier, but net sales rose 29 per cent to Rs 19,419 crore following a price increase in February last year.<br><br>Analysts had forecast net profit of Rs 4,110 crore on net sales of Rs 17,940 crore, a Reuters poll of brokerages showed.<br><br>Shares in Coal India, the country's fourth-most valuable company at about $36 billion, closed 0.5 per cent higher in a Mumbai market that rose 1.2 per cent.<br><br>(Reuters)</p>