Semirara net profit down 20% in 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) saw net profit slide by a fifth last year due to depressed global coal prices and power plant shutdown.

In a disclosure yesterday, SMPC reported a 20 percent decline in consolidated total comprehensive income from P12.1 billion in 2018 to P9.6 billion last year.

Its coal production subsidiaries Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) contributed P6.2 billion, P58.9 million and P3.5 billion, respectively.

SMPC’s coal segment booked core profits of P7.4 billion, a decline of 23 percent from P9.7 billion in the previous year.

The segment posted a record high production of 15.2 million metric tons (MT), 17 percent higher than the 12.9 million MT recorded last year. The increase was attributed to higher capacities and good weather condition.

Coal shipment was also at a record high at 15.6 million MT, a 35 percent jump from the 11.6 million MT in the previous year.

SMPC said 34 percent of coal sales were domestic while 66 percent were exported, a change from a domestic driven sales mix because of the low off-take of SMPC which underwent a life extension program.

Despite higher sales, the depressed coal prices brought down average selling price per MT by 22 percent.

“The negative impact of the decline in coal prices was mitigated by the record high coal shipment performance. Gross coal revenue managed a five percent increase to P32.3 billion from P30.7 billion last year,” SMPC said.

Meanwhile, power unit SCPC incurred a net loss of P758 million, a reversal of the P1.2 billion core profits.

Sales volume also down by 45 percent from 3,342 GWh to 1,848 GWh while composite average price of energy sold also went down by eight percent. This resulted in a 51 percent slide in gross energy sales revenue from P13.7 billion to P7 billion.

Finally, SLPGC’s core profits soared by 182 percent from P1 billion to P2.8 billion on the back of a 51 percent jump in gross generation from 1,368 GWh to 2,070 GWh.