Macarthur Coal Ltd (ASX:MCC) has lifted its net profit guidance as a consequence of the sale of partial interest in Codrilla for $74.9 million.

The company has sold 13.8 per cent of its stake in Codrilla to the Moorvale Joint Venture, reducing its holding to 73.3 per cent from 85 per cent. It previously announced a profit forecast of $185 million to $205 million on May 4, but now expects net profit for the year to June 30 to be between $240 million and $260 million.

Macarthur Coal also said today it had selected the Codrilla coal deposit as its fourth mine.

Macarthur Coal CEO Nicole Hollows said the Codrilla project is preferred over the Willunga project as it matches existing port capacity, meets internal hurdle rates and benefits from being able to utilise existing infrastructure at Moorvale.

Brisbane based Macarthur plans to increase sales to 9.2 million tonnes by fiscal year 2014, chiefly through bringing online new projects and a fourth mine is central to meeting this target.

Macarthur said the sale of a portion of its stake in Codrilla, which is expected to produce 3.2 million tonnes per annum of low volatile pulverized coal injection product, would help expedite the project's development through shared infrastructure and resources.

Today’s news sent Macarthur shares up 0.70 per cent to $11.50 at 1515 AEST. The stock has traded more than 2 per cent higher for most of the afternoon.