Semirara income jumps to P8.1 billion

By Myrna M. Velasco – August 10, 2018, 10:00 PM
from Manila Bulletin

he consolidated net income after tax of Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) had climbed to P8.1 billion in this year’s first half compared to the leaner P7.86 billion posted for the same period in 2017.

Improved margins from coal mining operations, according to the company, had been able to offset foregone revenues due to power plant downtimes.

It qualified that the company was able “to benefit from stable benchmark prices while cushioning the impact of plant shutdowns of its power segment.”

The company’s coal business segment alone was able to book core profit of P7.2 billion, which is 35 percent higher than last year’s P5.3 billion.

On power generation, its two power plants – Sem-Calaca Power Corporation and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation – brought in P1.72 billion and P841-million income contributions, respectively.

SMPC emphasized that coal production slowed down by 2.0 percent to 7.2 million metric tons (MT) from the year-ago level of 7.4 million metric tons; while global prices also manifested dips in April and just recovered around June.

“Production in the second quarter dropped by around one million MT at 3.1 million MT from 4.1 million MT in the first quarter of 2018,” the Consunji-led firm has specified.

It further explained that the “strip ratio,” or the amount of overburden materials versus the volume of coal extracted, had also been down 10.7 bank cubic meters (BCM) from last year’s 8.8 BCM.

SMPC nevertheless emphasized that “despite the lower production, coal sales jumped to 6.9MT – 9.0 percent better than last year’s 6.3 million MT.”