The company, which completed its Kestrel extension project contract for Rio Tinto at the end of June, has already signalled that it expects net profit after tax to be $11.1 million to $11.6 million.

It decided to make changes to director and key management personnel (KMP) remuneration following a group-wide review, it said in a statement.

“As a result of the review there were two main changes, the first being a reduction in director and KMP remuneration by 12.5% and the second a reduction in KMP roles, with John Stuart-Robertson, the chief operating officer, and one other KMP leaving the group,” Mastermyne said.

“Reduced director and relevant KMP compensation became effective in June 2013.

“Directors now view the company structure as being robust and tailored to meet current needs in the sector in which it operates.”

In January last year, Mastermyne sought to strengthen its management ranks with the appointment of former AJ Lucas veteran Stuart-Robertson to the newly created role of chief operating officer.

Stuart-Robertson, who spent 18 years with the AJ Lucas Group, worked in the drilling, pipeline and construction divisions of that company, and has a strong operational background in project delivery in oil and gas and infrastructure projects.

In his most recent role at AJ Lucas, Stuart-Robertson assisted in the restructuring of the business before being recruited by Mastermyne.

But the sudden downturn has forced Mastermyne to rethink its management structure.

Mastermyne slashed its net-profit-after-tax outlook in June for this financial year as it grapples with the effect of a deferral of its drivage contract with Centennial Coal’s Newstan colliery in New South Wales.

The company is prepared to take advantage of any improvements in the industry and grow strongly in the latter part of next financial year, managing director Tony Caruso said.

“Although we expect the first half of FY14 to remain very challenging, Mastermyne is well positioned,” he said.

“We expect to enter FY14 with little net debt and are expecting momentum to build over the year.”

Mastermyne now anticipates NPAT for the 12 months to June 30 to be in the range of $11.1-$11.6 million, compared with the company’s previous guidance of $12-13 million.

Revenue is anticipated to be $245-$250 million, which compares with previous guidance of $245-255 million.

The Newstan contract was a part of the company’s order book for the remainder of the 2013 financial year, but was not part of the 2014 order book and beyond.

New contracts have led to Mastermyne reporting a 2.2% higher half-year net profit after tax of $8 million, despite the slowdown in the sector.

Revenue for the six months to December 2012 was up 14.3% on the prior corresponding period to $142.1 million.

Mastermyne continues to pursue a number of significant tender opportunities, but the timing of these remains uncertain, it said.

“The company remains the only major contractor still operating on a number of key sites and therefore is well positioned to undertake further work required on these sites as the coal market recovers,” it said.

The company also expects that as the coal market recovers, mine owners will increasingly utilise contractors to execute packages of work to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mine is not impacted.

Utilising contractors also benefits the mine owner by avoiding increased fixed costs in their operations, Caruso said.

The company has $447 million in active tenders, a large portion of which will be awarded in the next three months, contributing revenue from early FY2014.

As well as these active tenders, the company has also identified a further $545 million in tendering opportunities that will come through in the next four months, the majority of which will also contribute revenue in FY2014.

In addition to new tendering and fleet hire opportunities, Mastermyne is confident of renewing current contracts in the order book as they fall due.

These opportunities will support the return of EBITA margins at historic levels of 9% to 9.5% and continued revenue growth.

The company remains positive about its prospects for FY2014 and beyond, despite the subdued second half, Caruso said.