YANZHOU Coal Mining Co, a unit of China's fourth-biggest producer of the fuel, advanced the most in a week in Hong Kong trading yesterday after saying its first-half profit may have more than tripled.

    The shares rose 2.5 percent, the most since July 21, to HK$13.80 (US$1.76). The stock has fallen 11 percent this year compared with an 18 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index, Bloomberg News reported.

    China's economy expanded 10.4 percent in the first half, boosting demand for coal used to run almost 80 percent of the country's power plants.

    Yanzhou Coal plans to increase capital expenditure by 26 percent this year to 3.7 billion yuan (US$544 million) to boost production capacity, it said on April 20.

    Net income is expected to rise about 220 percent in the first half from 1.11 billion yuan a year earlier, according to the company.