Profit of No.1 coal producer falls

China Shenhua Energy, the country's largest coal producer, posted a decline in first-quarter net profit compared with a year earlier, citing falling coal prices.

Net profit went down 9.9 percent to 10.4 billion yuan ($1.66 billion) in the first three months, said a report on the website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Saturday.

During the January-March period, Shenhua Energy's revenue dipped 0.1 percent on an annual basis to 60.9 billion yuan, it said.

The Beijing-based company attributed the poor performance mainly to rising production costs and falling coal prices.

In addition to weak demand, the company also blamed growing coal imports, which rose 5.1 percent to 84 million tons in the first quarter.