Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) reported a 40% decrease in consolidated net income from P15 billion to P9 billion for the first quarter of 2023, primarily due to a high-base effect.
This comes after the company posted its highest-ever quarterly bottom line during the same period last year.
The company’s combined revenue decreased by 29% from P29.1 billion to P20.7 billion, primarily due to a decrease in coal revenues, which was compensated by record-high revenues from the power segment.
Coal revenue decreased by 40% from P25.7 billion to P15.5 billion due to lower shipments and selling prices. This was caused by the company’s cautious approach to market volatility.
“We limited our first-quarter exports because of the wild price swings. Now that prices have settled, we intend to boost our foreign shipments in the coming months,” SMPC president and COO, Maria Cristina C. Gotianun said.
She further stated, “Our sales target for this year is between 15 and 16 million metric tons.”
Total coal shipments dropped by 31% from 5.1 million metric tons (MMT) to 3.5 MMT between January and March, as exports fell by 52% from 3.1 MMT to 1.5 MMT, while domestic sales remained flat at 2 MMT.
SMPC’s average selling prices (ASP) for coal fell by 14% to P4,427 per metric ton (MT) from P5,125 per MT, largely due to a decrease in exports and an increase in the supply of lower-grade coal.
Concurrently, revenues from power businesses increased by 59% from P4.8 billion to a record high of P7.7 billion, driven by double-digit growth in all major operating metrics.
Following the commercial operation of SEM-Calaca Power Corporation (SCPC) Unit 2 on October 9, 2022, “overall plant availability surged by 48% from 58% to 86%, while total average capacity increased by 32% from 520 MW to 688 MW.”
Three out of the four power plants owned by SMPC recorded higher availability and average capacity, leading to a 44% increase in total gross generation from 914 GWh to 1,316 GWh.
As a result, overall power sales increased by 37% from 908 GWh to 1,241 GWh, with most of the sales (71%) going to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The sales to the spot market specifically grew by 69% from 522 GWh to 880 GWh.
Lower demand and cheaper fuel led to a 2% decrease in spot ASP from P6.84/KWh to P6.69/KWh. But higher sales and a 53% increase in BCQ prices pushed overall ASP up by 17% from P5.29/KWh to P6.17/KWh.
Better plant availability and capacity, along with a slight reduction in contracted capacity, resulted in a 33% decrease in total spot purchases from P493 million to P331 million.
SMPC had contracts covering only 26% of their 720MW dependable capacity by the end of Q1, with the majority of these contracts being under SLPGC.
