(EnergyAsia, October 4 2011, Tuesday) — HMS Bergbau AG, a Germany-based international coal supplier with expertise in coal mining, transport and trade, has affirmed its expansion plans by further developing its activities in Asia.

The company underlined its strategic focus despite announcing a set of downbeat first half financial results.

Group revenues fell 21.9% to 51.481 million euro from 65.911 million euro over the same period in the previous year.

The company attributed the drop to the sale of its Polish investment, reduced volumes in the European market and a slight fall in Asian trading volumes, which was due to unexpected changes in the rescheduling of coal deliveries in Indonesia to the second half of the year.

Group earnings before extraordinary expenses and earnings fell to minus 16,000 euro from 1.262 million euro in the first half of last year.

Heinz Schernikau, CEO of HMS Bergbau AG, said:

“HMS Bergbau AG will increasingly focus on the growth market in Asia. Our initial objective will be to continuously increase the activities of our subsidiaries and representations in Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan and India.

“Particularly in view of developments in Asia and the position we have achieved on the procurement and sales side, we anticipate business to develop positively as a whole in the coming financial years. By steadily expanding our presence in the market, we intend to participate even more extensively in the rising volume of Asian coal exports.

“We expect our pursuit of vertical integration to provide us with increased gross margins in years to come. This positive trend will then have a positive impact on Group EBITDA.”