S.Africa's Exxaro sees fall in annual profit on lower coal prices

(Reuters) - South Africa's Exxaro Resources expects its 2023 profit to fall as much as 30%, mainly due to lower coal export prices, the company said on Thursday.

The miner's headline earnings per share (HEPS) - a profit measure commonly used in South Africa - is expected to be between 42.11 rand and 50.53 rand ($2.24 and $2.68) in the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, down from 60.16 rand the previous year.

Although international coal prices fell last year after peaking in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Exxaro, which is a major supplier to South Africa's thermal power stations, said it realised higher prices in the domestic South African market.

This, coupled with the weaker rand against the U.S. dollar, helped Exxaro partially offset the impact of lower coal export prices, the company said.

Exxaro also expects higher contribution from its renewable energy unit, due to improved wind conditions, as well as higher income from its investment in Sishen Iron Ore Company.

The miner is scheduled to release its financial results on March 14.

($1 = 18.8285 rand)

(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Sonia Cheema)