Kolkata, Feb 12 (IANS): Coal India on Tuesday reported a 50 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 4,566.81 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal (FY19), as compared to Rs 3,042.68 crore in the year-ago period.

Its revenue from operations during the quarter under review was at Rs 25,045.83 crore, up 5 per cent from Rs 21,707.04 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal (FY18).

Net sales stood at Rs 23,385.43 crore during the three months ended December 31, 2018, up by nearly 13 per cent as compared to Rs 20, 772.23 crore in the year-ago period.

The state-run miner reported that its employee benefits expense soared by 8.84 per cent to Rs 9,517.62 crore during the December quarter as against Rs 8,744.10 crore in the corresponding quarter of the FY18.

During the quarter, the city-headquartered company produced 155.97 million tonnes of coal, up marginally from 152.04 million tonnes in the October-December period of FY18 and its off-take in the quarter under review stood at 153.83 million tonnes as against 152.43 million tonnes of coal, despatched in the same period of previous fiscal.

The miner sold 135.82 million tonnes of coal through FSA (fuel supply agreement) route with the average realisation of Rs 1,334 per tonne.

Coal India also said it sold 14.65 million tonnes of coal through e-auction with an average realisation of Rs 2,847 per tonne.