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ublicly listed coal miner, PT Garda Tujuh Buana (GTBO), has lifted its sales target for the year thanks to a sales agreement that managed to boost its financial performance in the first half of the year.

GTBO commissioner Pardeep Dhir said that the company aimed to sell a total of 5.7 to 6 million metric tons of coal by the year’s end, an almost twofold increase from its initial projection of around 3 million metric tons. “As of June 30, orders for 4.2 [million metric tons] have already been booked [in the first half of the year],” Dhir said.

The company physically mined 1.14 million metric tons of coal in the first half of the year, still two times more than the 547,915 metric tons mined during the same period last year. GTBO’s sales volume reached 1.27 million metric tons.

However, it has secured coal sales of 3 million metric tons to a United Arab Emirates-based company, which has disbursed an advance payment of US$75 million.

According to GTBO’s financial report, the client will receive the coal before the end of December 2014. The deal was part of an agreement reached last June when both parties agreed on the sale and purchase of 10 million metric tons of coal. Dhir said the client had originally planned to take possession of the coal by the end of 2016; however, it later decided to have the coal delivered two years earlier.

Despite the gradual delivery of coal under the agreement, GTBO has booked the advance payment in the first half of the year, leading to a massive jump in its financial performance.

The company reaped Rp 1.15 trillion ($121.18 million) in revenue during the January to June period, increasing by around 30 times the Rp 36.22 billion gained in the same period last year. The increased revenue supported the company’s net profits, which totaled Rp 939.81 billion in the first half of the year; also a significant jump compared to Rp 12.71 billion in the same period last year.

“This year, the anticipated EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization] is $170 million, plus or minus 10 percent,” Dhir said, adding that GTBO planned to sell 8 million metric tons of coal next year.

GTBO now has a concession area in Bulungan, East Kalimantan, which has coal reserves of 46.37 million metric tons.

Dhir said the site would produce coal for at least another 10 years. Beyond that, Dhir said GTBO was planning to acquire new coal mining areas.

“Currently, we have looked at a number of areas and they are being studied in-house. We may be able to disclose their details sometime next year,” Dhir said, adding that GTBO was focusing on acquiring low-calorie-coal mining sites.

The funding needed for the acquisition will be supported by the company’s internal cash. According to its financial report, GTBO’s cash and cash equivalent wealth reached Rp 1 trillion.

“We do not plan to borrow a single cent as we move forward. The entire payment will come from [sales to] customers. If not, our shareholders will come forward and inject the money. There is total commitment from the shareholders,” Dhir said.

GTBO is 43 percent owned by the public. Other shareholders comprise Green River Pte. Ltd. (30 percent); PT Garda Minerals (26 percent); and president commissioner Fakir Chand, who holds a small number of shares.

In its long-term business plan, Dhir said that GTBO was planning to increase its exports to the world’s largest coal consumer, China, in an attempt to secure a bigger share in the global coal market.

The company expects to see around 25 percent of its coal exports go to China. According to Dhir, GTBO’s sales to India accounted for 85 percent of total sales, while China accounted only for around 10 percent, with the remaining 5 percent channeled to the domestic market.

“Our target is to divide our sales, with at least 60 to 70 percent going to India; 20 to 25 percent to China; and the rest to Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. We are hoping to achieve that sort of breakdown over the next two years,” Dhir said on Wednesday.

He added that GTBO had established a development team and had hired several people from China in order to study that country’s market.