New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) State-owned CIL on Friday posted a 23.2 per cent decline in consolidated profit to Rs 4,625.16 crore for the quarter ended March, on the back of lower sales and higher expenses.

The company had posted a consolidated profit of Rs 6,026.47 crore in the year-ago period, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a filing to the BSE.

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The filing said the figures are of profits "from continuing operations".

Its consolidated sales during the January-March 2020 quarter dropped to Rs 25,597.43 crore, against Rs 26,704.27 crore in the year-ago period.

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The firm's consolidated expenses increased to Rs 22,033.90 crore, compared with Rs 21,471.78 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.

For the quarter ended March 2020, the company produced 213.71 million tonnes (MT) of coal, against 194.45 MT of coal produced in the January-March quarter of 2018-19.

CIL's coal offtake during the March 2020 quarter was almost flat at 163.87 MT, against 163.51 MT a year ago.

Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.

The company is eyeing one billion tonnes of production by 2023-24.

Its shares closed at Rs 141.95 apiece on the BSE, up 0.82 per cent.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)