Coal India: Price hikes, evacuation charge likely to mitigate higher costs

The Street’s confidence on Coal India is improving, as indicated by recent analyst upgrades and gains on the bourses. With the impact now behind it of slippage in coal grades and wage hike provisioning, which weighed on the performance in FY18, the price hikes taken in January should take care of higher wage costs.

The improved volume outlook and better e-auction prices for its coal are likely to drive earnings in FY19. And, are keeping analysts positive on the stock, trading at a reasonable valuation. Analysts at Jefferies, after the strong March quarter (Q4) results, have raised their FY19-20 earnings estimate