Yancoal is tracking towards a new full-year production record after delivering a bumper 19.8 million tonnes of attributable saleable coal across its operations, or 25.7 million tonnes in total, in the first six months of 2026.

Higher sales volumes and higher realised prices lifted the company’s half-year revenue by 13 per cent compared to 2025, coming in at $3.02 billion.

Yancoal’s operating EBITDA hit $767 million, up 29 per cent from the same time last year, at an EBITDA margin of 24 per cent as coal price recovery continues.

It is well positioned financially as it takes an 80 per cent stake in the Kestrel coal operation in Central Queensland, according to Yancoal (ASX: YAL) chief executive officer Sharif Burra.

“Over recent years, we have built a strong net cash position, which stood at $2.1 billion at June 30, 2026,” he said.

“We will use approximately half the cash balance to fund the $US1.85 billion Kestrel acquisition announced in April, and debt fund the remainder.

“The combination of cash and debt funding delivers growth without equity dilution. This transaction does not exhaust our cash balance and does not deplete the company’s borrowing capacity.

“We will return A$0.07 per share to shareholders as a fully franked interim dividend. The dividend reflects confidence in the underlying earnings, cash generation, liquidity position and long-term financial strength.

“It also demonstrates our capacity to fund growth and reward shareholders simultaneously. We expect the addition of Kestrel into the portfolio will further enhance our financial strength.”

Related: Yancoal takes major stake in Kestrel coal mine

Yancoal has interests in a string of coal mines in Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia including Yarrabee, Middlemount, Cameby Downs, Mount Thorley Warkworth, Ashton, Hunter Valley Operations, Moolarben and Premier.

Mr Burra said the international thermal coal indices the company sold against increased through the first half of 2026.

“We observed robust demand across most of our markets and constraints in most major seaborne market supplier countries,” he said.

“We are optimistic we can deliver strong operational performance in the second half and achieve robust realised coal prices.”

Yancoal expects to chalk up 36.5-40.5Mt attributable saleable coal production by the end of 2026.