The miner posted a full-year underlying net profit of $319 million in the year to June 30, down from $740 million the year before.
Whitehaven will pay shareholders a dividend of six cents per share, taking the total payout for the 2025 financial year to up to $191 million between dividends and share buybacks, chief executive Paul Flynn said.
"FY25 marked our first full year of owning the Queensland operations at Daunia and Blackwater, and it was a year of strong execution," Mr Flynn said.
"The sites were successfully integrated, with production, sales and costs meeting or exceeding guidance."
Whitehaven's Queensland mines brought in revenue of $3.5 billion, up almost 300 per cent on the year before and topping the $2.2 billion revenue from its NSW operations.
Coal prices fell to four-year lows in February and remain under pressure, while unit costs per tonne rose 16 per cent to $139 million on the year before.
Mr Flynn remained optimistic, highlighting the group's strong balance sheet along with scale and diversification benefits across its six mines.
"A very busy year, but a pretty good year, a business really well positioned at the bottom of the cycle with a turn coming and looking forward to 2026," he told an investor briefing.
"Thermal coal prices have been recovering since June, and metallurgical coal markets have stabilised," he said.
Investors were less enthused, unloading Whitehaven shares at Thursday's open for a six per cent sell-off, before the price recovered slightly to $6.26, down 4.8 per cent since 10am.
The outlook for coking coal prices remained soft, tracking with weaker seaborne demand, but there was evidence prices were stabilising as China worked to address oversupply in coal and steel markets, Mr Flynn said.
Despite the encouraging signs, Whitehaven erred on the side of caution in its forward guidance, holding the upper range of forecasts on par with 2025's production results.
"The weather in the first month of the year has been unseasonably annoying, but that's okay," Mr Flynn told investors.
"We're at the beginning of the year, and the momentum, the team is doing really well, so we're positive that we can do well, but we have taken a conservative position."
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