For the year ended December 31, it reported revenues of $US839 million on 22.8 million tonnes sold, both all-time benchmarks for Alliance. Revenues increased over the prior year by 28%. Fourth quarter revenues mirrored the trend, increasing 30% over the same period last year to $US227 million.
Alliance was able to use these record revenues to turn a record profit, which increased to $US160 million for 2005 from $US77 million for the previous year.
Company chief Joseph Craft III noted 2005 marked the fifth consecutive year the company set sales and revenue records, and he anticipated more of the same for 2006.
“In addition to these exceptional results, Alliance continued to build for the future with new sales agreements and significant growth projects announced during the past year,” he said.
The record numbers are paralleled by Alliance’s positive growth. The company announced in December that it entered a deal to spend $US165 million over five years to develop the Buffalo Coal Reserve in Washington County, Pennsylvania, into a five million tonnes per annum operation by 2009-10.
Just one month prior, it said it hoped to commence production at the former Valley Camp mine, to be renamed Tunnel Ridge, in the next 18 to 24 months.
An announcement six years in the making, the mine at full production could produce 6Mtpa.
