UK Coal, the company that owns almost all of the country's mines, called on the City yesterday to view it as an £800m property developer rather than just a miner.
The move had an immediate impact with shares rising 14% to 303p as the inheritor of many British Coal Board assets stressed the potential value of its 49,500 acre land bank rather than its main business as an energy company.
Chief executive Gerry Spindler and a newly appointed public relations firm brought together about 60 property analysts to outline its new focus on land development.
Bridgewell Securities, one of those invited to the meeting, has put a 625p target price on the shares. "The significant value of the brownfield land has not been recognised by the market before," it said.
Mr Spindler told the investment banks that a property portfolio valued in the company's accounts at £274m could be worth £800m within six years as abandoned sites were turned into new homes and business parks.
But he dismissed any suggestion that UK Coal would pour all its management energy into property and risk leaving the coal mining arm to wither on the vine.
"No, UK Coal, is not a property company. This endeavour is extremely exciting but it will need investment and the coal mines will continue to provide most of the cash and revenues," Mr Spindler told the Guardian.
He refused to guarantee that no further mines would close, confirming that an unspecified number of pits were still "in jeopardy" due to a mixture of factors.
Over the past decade UK Coal has overseen the rundown of many of its collieries and shed thousands of jobs. The British coal industry has been damaged by the deep, high cost, nature of its reserves in comparison with cheap supplies from countries such as Russia and South Africa.
The company provides only a small part of Britain's 55m tonnes of annual coal consumption and it now employs barely 3,500 workers in a mix of deep and surface mines.
The land from closures of facilities such as the Prince of Wales colliery near Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, has been slowly developed by UK Coal. Under its new American chief executive it is making a determined attempt to market it fully.
Jon Lloyd, brought in this summer from HBOS bank to head a property arm, said its planned developments could bring much-needed housing and create thousands of jobs.
Among the first of 60 planned schemes is one to build 900 homes and provide 250,000 sq ft of offices and light industrial premises. Up to 1,000 jobs could be created in companies eventually located on this site and the development work over ten years would provide many jobs in building and construction.
Energy urge
The International Energy Agency called on governments to invest $20 trillion (£10.5 trillion) to meet a projected 53% surge in energy demand by 2030. The price of oil could more than double by then unless something is done and the IEA believes nuclear power will have to play a major part. "On current trends, we are on course for a dirty, expensive and unsustainable energy future," said IEA's executive director, Claude Mandil, at the launch of his organisation's annual review in London.
Source: The Guardian
The move had an immediate impact with shares rising 14% to 303p as the inheritor of many British Coal Board assets stressed the potential value of its 49,500 acre land bank rather than its main business as an energy company.
Chief executive Gerry Spindler and a newly appointed public relations firm brought together about 60 property analysts to outline its new focus on land development.
Bridgewell Securities, one of those invited to the meeting, has put a 625p target price on the shares. "The significant value of the brownfield land has not been recognised by the market before," it said.
Mr Spindler told the investment banks that a property portfolio valued in the company's accounts at £274m could be worth £800m within six years as abandoned sites were turned into new homes and business parks.
But he dismissed any suggestion that UK Coal would pour all its management energy into property and risk leaving the coal mining arm to wither on the vine.
"No, UK Coal, is not a property company. This endeavour is extremely exciting but it will need investment and the coal mines will continue to provide most of the cash and revenues," Mr Spindler told the Guardian.
He refused to guarantee that no further mines would close, confirming that an unspecified number of pits were still "in jeopardy" due to a mixture of factors.
Over the past decade UK Coal has overseen the rundown of many of its collieries and shed thousands of jobs. The British coal industry has been damaged by the deep, high cost, nature of its reserves in comparison with cheap supplies from countries such as Russia and South Africa.
The company provides only a small part of Britain's 55m tonnes of annual coal consumption and it now employs barely 3,500 workers in a mix of deep and surface mines.
The land from closures of facilities such as the Prince of Wales colliery near Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, has been slowly developed by UK Coal. Under its new American chief executive it is making a determined attempt to market it fully.
Jon Lloyd, brought in this summer from HBOS bank to head a property arm, said its planned developments could bring much-needed housing and create thousands of jobs.
Among the first of 60 planned schemes is one to build 900 homes and provide 250,000 sq ft of offices and light industrial premises. Up to 1,000 jobs could be created in companies eventually located on this site and the development work over ten years would provide many jobs in building and construction.
Energy urge
The International Energy Agency called on governments to invest $20 trillion (£10.5 trillion) to meet a projected 53% surge in energy demand by 2030. The price of oil could more than double by then unless something is done and the IEA believes nuclear power will have to play a major part. "On current trends, we are on course for a dirty, expensive and unsustainable energy future," said IEA's executive director, Claude Mandil, at the launch of his organisation's annual review in London.
Source: The Guardian
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