Semirara profit up 42% in 2016

MANILA, Philippines - Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. saw  earnings rise 42 percent last year on record coal sales and higher contribution from its latest power plant.

The company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange it earned P12.04 billion in net income compared with only P8.47 billion in 2015.

“The net contribution to the bottom line by coal, Sem-Calaca Power Corp. and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp., after eliminations, are P5.42 billion, P2.87 billion, and P3.71 million, respectively,” it said.

For the coal segment, production and coal sales reached a new record high of 12.8 million tons. Coal production is inclusive of 900,000 tons of low-grade coal.

Semirara said composite average price of coal reached P1,885 per ton, down nine percent year-on-year.

The low-grade coal sold to own power plants more than doubled to 1.95 million tons from 955,000 tons, thus pulling down average price.

SCPC – which operates the 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas – posted a decline in profit contributions because of decreased availability of plants.

Its power plants had more downtimes which dragged total gross generation down 27 percent at 2,909 gigawatt-hours (gwh) from 3,959 gwh last year.

This dragged total energy sold to 3,322 gwh, 12 percent lower than the year ago.

Average selling price also decreased three percent to P3.31 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

Meanwhile, cost of energy sold increased 32 percent to P2.24 per kwh.

On the other hand, SLPGC’s 2x150-MW plants contributed P3.22 billion to Semirara’s earnings as against P40 million a year ago.

It posted a 555 percent growth in gross generation to 1,383 gwh. The plants’ power supply contracts were already effective, and total volume sold soared 510 percent to 1,478 gwh.

Source: Philippine Star