(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-17 16:09

BEIJING -- China's biggest coal miner, Shenhua Energy, said its 2007 net profit rose 16.6 percent as it increased coal and electricity output to meet rising domestic demand fueled by fast economic growth.

Net profit reached 20.58 billion yuan (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) last year, the Beijing-based company said in a statement.

Revenue surged 26 percent to 82.1 billion yuan as Shenhua sold 209.1 million tons of coal. Its coal production climbed 15.7 percent to 158 million tons.

The state-owned energy giant, which runs 13 power plants mostly in north China, generated 77.2 million megawatt-hours of electricity last year, up 40 percent.

It was also China's largest coal exporter last year, with overseas sales of 24 million tons. About 9.7 million tons went to the Republic of Korea and 5 million tons to Japan.

China's fast economic growth would continue to boost its energy demand, and domestic coal supply and demand would be balanced this year, with prices fluctuating at a high level, the statement said.

Further price rises were possible as production costs went up, it added.

China, the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, saw its economy expand by 11.4 percent last year. The consumption of coal, which generates about 80 percent of the country's power, rose 7.9 percent to 2.58 billion tons.

Shenhua said that it planned to produce 12 percent more coal and sell 7.1 percent more this year. It would also generate 22.6 percent more electricity.

The company would step up efforts to acquire domestic coal, railway, port and power projects and "prudently" seek overseas development, it said.

Hong Kong-listed Shenhua made its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange last September, raising 66.6 billion yuan -- a record for the mainland bourse.