26 October 2018
Stanmore Coal are a pure play coal company with several thermal and coking coal mining operations across Queensland. They made headlines in 2015 when they picked up a mothballed mine from Vale and Sumitomo for just $1.
In 2016, we published that Stanmore Coal were in denial about the future of coal in the wake of the Paris Agreement.
Two years down the track, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released more dire warnings about the global climate crisis, urging governments to abandon coal sooner rather than later. We’ve seen 20 countries form an alliance to phase out coal by 2030 while others, including China and Japan, are scaling down the role of coal in their energy mix.
Yet somehow, Stanmore’s board is convinced the company’s future remains bright.
Perhaps this blind optimism stems from a complete lack of engagement with climate science. Stanmore have failed to disclose even the most basic analyses of the potential impact on their business and the value of their shares. The company’s 2018 Annual Report makes no mention of climate change, and its risk assessment merely mentions the price of coal being impacted by “many factors which could be favourable or unfavourable for the Group.”
Or, perhaps the board expects that a longer-term demand for metallurgical coal will keep the company afloat.
Not only does Stanmore Coal fail to disclose publicly about climate change related risks, the board also avoided providing any detail in response to climate-related questions raised by concerned shareholders at Stanmore’s annual general meeting today.
This certainly makes it hard for investors to judge how safe Stanmore Coal shares really are in the longer-term.