Power, coal fuel Semirara profit growth

Posted on March 06, 2014 10:27:00 PM 
By Claire-Ann M. C. Feliciano, Reporter 

LISTED Semirara Mining Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, Inc. that is into coal mining and power generation, saw profit grow by almost a fifth in last year on the back of performance of its business units, the company said in a disclosure yesterday. 
Semirara said audited consolidated financial statements showed net income rose 18.9% to P7.54 billion last year from P6.34 billion in 2012, with its power and coal businesses contributing P5.9 billion and P1.8 billion, respectively, in revenues. 
Sales of Semirara’s power segment surged 84.8% to P4.72 billion from P2.55 billion, driven by higher volume of energy sold. Energy sales climbed 46% to 3,460 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 2,365 GWh. 
The company, through SEM-Calaca Power Corp., owns and operates a 300-megawatt (MW), two-unit, coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas. 
Semirara also cited completed rehabilitation of one of the plant’s units in 2012 that led to an 83% higher capacity availability last year compared to 31% in 2012. 
“Average price also improved slightly at P4.22 per kWh (kilowatt-hour) from P4.09 in 2012,” the company said. Meanwhile, coal segment sales grew 1.8% to P5.34 billion last year from P5.24 billion in 2012. Semirara grew volume of coal sold to 7.6 million metric tons (MT) from 7.2 million MT in 2012. It also booked lower cost of sales per MT. This, the firm explained, “offset the 11% drop in coal average price at P2,185 per MT from P2,455/MT in 2012.” 
Further information on the company’s financial results was not immediately available. Semirara was incorporated in 1980 to explore, develop, and mine coal resources in Semirara island in Caluya, Antique, but the company is also involved in power generation through its subsidiaries. 
The company, through Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp., is currently undertaking a 300-MW expansion of its power plant in Batangas. 
The expansion -- which involves construction of two 150 MW units -- is expected to be completed by 2015. 
 The company, in November last year, secured its board’s approval to develop another 700-MW coal plant -- which will be built in phases -- to expand its power generation capacity in the province. The project will be carried out by its wholly owned subsidiary, St. Raphael Power Generation Corp. (SRPGC). 
In its disclosure yesterday, Semirara said that its board of directors granted it authority “to execute the required securities and corporate guarantee in relation to the procurement of project debt facility” by SRPGC. 
Semirara said the planned debt will be used to fund the second phase of the project, involving a plant with capacity of up to 400 MW and cost of up to $600 million. It will be funded by 70% debt and 30% equity, the company added. Shares of Semirara ended at P374.20 apiece yesterday, up P2.60 or 0.70% from P371.60 apiece on Wednesday. source