Semirara earns P8.9 B in 9 months, down 23%

Published November 8, 2018, 10:00 PM By Myrna M. Velasco

https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/11/08/semirara-earns-p8-9-b-in-9-months-down-23/

On combined slow down of its coal production and technical-laden breakdown of power plants, the consolidated net income after tax (NIAT) of Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) in three quarters this year dipped 23 percent to P8.9 billion vis-à-vis a more robust profitability of P11.6 billion in the same period last year.

On the whole though, the Consunji firm reported that its coal business segment still logged 8.0 percent upturn in financial outcome to P7.4 billion from the year-ago level of P6.8 billion.

Conversely, there had been downtrend in the core profits of its Sem-Calaca Power Corporation’s generating facility to P804 million in January-September this year from P2.22 billion in the same period last year; while for its Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation (SLPGC), income had been on colossal 81 percent decline to P582 million vis-à-vis the year-ago level of P2.52 billion.

For its coal output in particular, the company indicated that it skidded 10 percent to 8.9 million metric tons within the financial review period versus last year’s heftier volume of 9.9 million metric tons.

The company stressed “continuous heavy rains in July and August caused slowdown in production in the third quarter to 1.7 million MT from 4.1 million MT in the first quarter and 3.1 million MT in the second quarter.”

SMPC qualified though that “despite the rains that hampered coal extraction, operations focused on waste stripping in the third quarter,” and this had been a way for the company also to maximize operations.

Taking off from that, the Consunji firm noted that its strip ratio – or the amount of overburden materials over the amount of coal extracted – “rose to 12.4 bank cubic meters (BCM:1MT against last year’s 9.5 BCM:1MT).”