The company’s net profit came in at 7.89 billion yuan ($A1.77 billion) in the July to September period, compared to a reported 5.32 billion yuan ($A1.19 billion) for the corresponding 2007 period.

Revenues rose 33% over the year to 28.23 billion yuan ($A6.35 billion).

The company said it benefited from the robust demand of the coal market, with the group’s average weighted price for coal sales of 370.2 yuan ($A83.3) per tonne for the nine months to September, representing an increase of 18.3% from the December quarter.

The company produced 137.9 million tonnes of coal in January to September, up 17.6% from the same period a year earlier, and raised sales by 13% to 171.7Mt as it raced to meet shortfalls in China’s economy.

Meanwhile, its power generation rose 27% to 75.5 billion kilowatt hours.

However, the company reported that global demand had weakened recently due to the global economic slowdown, raising uncertainties about the outlook for the fourth quarter.

“The uncertain factors relating to the group's business environment for the fourth quarter of 2008 may have an effect on results of the operation of the group," the company said in a statement.

Shenhua Energy is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.