MELBOURNE, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Australian explosives and fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot reported a 26 percent drop in annual underlying profit on Tuesday, and warned that markets for its key products would remain weak in 2017.
Net profit before one-offs fell to A$295.2 million ($228 million) for the year to September from A$398.6 million a year earlier.
Earnings before interest and tax dropped 26 percent to A$428.1 million, roughly in line with analysts' forecast of A$431 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The world no.2 maker of commercial explosives has been hit by the mining slump, especially in the coal industry, which has resulted in less demand for ammonium nitrate, and said miners' focus on cost-cutting was also biting.
"Structural changes in U.S. coal markets and the cyclical oversupply of ammonium nitrate in Asia Pacific and the Americas are expected to continue in 2017," Incitec Pivot said.
($1 = 1.2950 Australian dollars)