Consunji-led SMPC declares P7.4-B special cash dividend

By Myrna M. Velasco – October 12, 2021, 4:08 PM
from Manila Bulletin

The Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) has approved the declaration of P7.4 billion worth of special cash dividends to its shareholders as the company’s financial performance gained traction.

The firm said that will be on top of the P5.3 billion worth of dividend payout already extended to its stockholders in April this year.

SMPC explained that the ‘ex-dividend date’ or the cut-off period will be October 20, 2021 and settlement on November 9 this year.

As announced by the Consunji firm, “shareholders on record as of October 25, 2021 are entitled to a special cash dividend of P1.75 per share, the highest amount ever declared by the company.”

It further noted that the two-tiered payment of special and regular cash dividends this year has been a record-breaking move when it comes to dividend payouts carried out by SMPC.

“With this additional special cash dividend, the total dividend payout of SMPC to its shareholders for 2021 will be P12.7 billion, the highest in history,” the firm stressed.

SMPC thus emphasized that the total annual dividend would already amount to P3.00 per share; and that translates to a “cash dividend yield of almost 12-percent based on its October 11, 2021 closing price of P25.45.”

The firm’s core businesses revolve around its coal mining operations in Semirara; and also on power generation – including its coal-fired power plants in Batangas that are under its corporate vehicles Sem-Calaca Power Corporation (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation (SLPGC).

The Consunji-led company’s top and bottom lines already rebounded this year, following a temporary slump during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

The country’s electricity demand had not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels yet, but power generation companies are already seeing green shoots of recovery as the Philippine economy braces for wider re-opening in the months ahead.

On the coal mining business of SMPC, this is seen flourishing moving forward because the price of this commodity is already surging in the international market and demand has also been hitting record-highs.