Semirara Mining and Power Corp., a listed integrated energy company, (SMPC) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net profit dropping 40 percent to P9 billion, hurt by a higher base last year and a weaker contribution from coal business.
Consolidated revenue contracted in the first quarter by 29 percent to P20.7 billion as the 40 percent drop in coal earnings due to market volatility was tempered by all-time high revenue from its power generation business.
“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,” said Semirara Mining president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina C. Gotianun. “Our sales target for this year is between 15 and 16 million metric tons,” she added.
Total coal shipments from January to March declined by 31 percent to 3.5 million metric tons from 5.1 million tons. Coal exports during the quarter dropped 52 percent to 1.5 million tons while domestic sales was flat at 2 million tons.
Average coal selling price also declined by 14 percent to P4,427 per metric ton due to sluggish exports and higher shipments of lower grade coal.
The power businesses saw a 59 percent increase in revenues to a historic high of P7.7 billion. With the commercial operation of SEM-Calaca Power Corp.’s Unit 2 last October, overall plant availability surged to 86 percent from 58 percent, while total average capacity increased by 32 percent to 688 MW. Total gross generation rebounded by 44 percent to 1,316 GWh, as three of the four Semirara Mining-owned power plants recorded better availability and average capacity.
Total power sales increased 37 percent to 1,241 GWh, with 71 percent sold to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. Sales to the spot market expanded by 69 percent to 880 GWh.
