Semirara earnings slides 23% to P8.9B

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp.’s consolidated net income decreased by 23 percent to P8.9 billion in the first nine months of 2018 from P11.6 billion in the same period last year.

In a disclosure on Thursday, the listed energy company said coal, Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) contributed P4.71 billion, P3.07 billion and P1.16 billion, respectively, to its bottom line.

The coal segment’s core profits rose by 8 percent to P7.4 billion from P6.8 billion in 2017, despite production slowing by 10 percent to 8.9 million metric tons (MT) from 9.9 million MT.

Heavy rains in July and August caused a deceleration in production in the third quarter to 1.7 million MT from 4.1 million in the first quarter and 3.1 million MT in the second.

Coal sales dropped by 16 percent to 8.3 million MT from 9.8 million MT as a result.

Domestic demand increased by 3 percent, while lower production caused exports sales to fall by 34 percent.

The higher average selling price per ton, however, offset the sales slump, leading to an 8-percent increase in coal revenues to P22.8 billion from P21 billion in July to September 2017.

SCPC’s core profit plunged by 64 percent to P804 million from P2.22 billion, while SLPGC’s core profits dived by 77 percent to P582 million from P2.52 billion. Total revenues added 4 percent to P9.8 billion from P9.4 billion.

SCPC’s gross generation slid by 9 percent to 2,287 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 2,503 GWh. Sales volume fell by 6 percent to 2,359 GWh from 2,508 GWh.

Also SLPGC’s gross generation lost 44 percent to 773 GWh from 1,380 GWh.

A unit of DMCI Holdings Inc., Semirara Mining is into exploring, developing and mining coal on Semirara Island in Caluya town, Antique province. It generates affordable baseload power for the Luzon and Visayas grids.

Shares of Semirara Mining dropped by P2.90 or 10.03 percent to close at P26 each on Thursday.