Semirara income plummets by 43 percent

Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) saw a 43 percent drop in this year’s first quarter net income, from P2.3 billion from last year to P1.2 billion.

This was mainly driven by the current public health crisis, which affected the production of coal from January to March this year. About 4.1 million metric tons (MT) was produced last year compared to 3.2 millions MT this year.

Export sales also declined by 20 percent to 1.6 million tons compared to 2.0 million tons a year ago.

“Drop in global coal prices translated to a 16 percent decrease in coal average selling price quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year from P2,272 per ton to P1,900 per ton this quarter,” the company was quoted in a report.

Meanwhile, SMPC said its energy sales from its power plants had a slight increase of 8.0 percent to 692 gigawatt hours (GHh) from the previous year’s 638 GWh.

However, SMPC noted that “softer global coal prices and Covid-19 pandemic affected average energy prices.”

On the other hand, the average selling price of SCPC had been trimmed by 25-percent; while its SLPGC plant had been lower by average 33-percent, “because of higher excess capacity to spot market and lower WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) prices.”

For its coal production, SMPC reported that its strip ratio for the quarter had been at 18:1, which was 46 percent higher compared to a ratio of 12.5:1 within the same period last year.

“Part of the mine capacity had been diverted to South Molave while preparatory dewatering works were being done at North Molave,” SMPC explained.