Shares in Coal India fell as much as 2 per cent in early trade as profits of the company lagged estimates. The shares were last trading at Rs 328, down 2 per cent over Friday's close.

Coal India is the world's biggest coal miner, and the company reported a net profit at Rs 2,543.80 crore for the quarter ended September 30 on the back of higher sales.

"The profit after tax (PAT) for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015 stood at Rs 2,543.80 crore as against Rs 2,192.38 crore for the same period last year registering a growth of around 16 per cent (YoY basis)," the state-owned firm said.

The consolidated net sales of the company was at Rs 16,957.59 crore during the quarter, registering an increase of eight per cent.

The company's consolidated net sales in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal was Rs 15,677.98 crore.

"The increase in earnings is largely due to the higher production and offtake during the current period compared to the corresponding period in the previous year," it said.

The total expenses of the PSU increased to Rs 15,067.87 crore, over Rs 14,144.73 crore in the year-ago period.
Coal production during the second quarter of the current fiscal was 108.20 million tonnes (MT) as against 102.42 MT for the second quarter of the previous year, the statement said.

With inputs from PTI