Revenue for the third quarter amounted to 2.66 billion Chinese yuan ($US329 million), compared with 3.21 billion yuan ($US397 million), in the year-earlier period.

Shares in Yanzhou Coal dropped 5.2% on Thursday, after the company’s report that third-quarter net profit was 384.6 million yuan ($US47.5 million).

Yanzhou Coal produced 7.36 million tonnes of coal during the quarter, down 30% from 10.54Mt the previous year. Saleable coal was 6.65Mt, down 33%.

The decline in production is related to disputes over the relocation of villages situated over Yanzhou Coal’s coal deposits in Shandong province.

The company said it expects to complete the resettlement of two villages in the fourth quarter and get coal production capacity back up to about 8Mt per quarter.

The relocations are expected to cost more than 600 million yuan and the remaining four villages will be relocated in the first quarter next year.

In August, the company said it would fall short of its full-year coal sales target due to the relocation blunders.