DMCI hikes net profit to P6b

Manila Standard Today
By Jenniffer B. Austria | Jul. 29, 2015 at 11:40pm

DMCI Holdings Inc. of the Consunji family said Wednesday first-half net income reached P6 billion, up 17 percent from P5.13 billion year-on-year.

DMCI president Isidro Consunji said in an interview at the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting that coal mining and power generation unit Semirara Mining and Power Corp. registered a first-half net profit of P4.5 billion, nearly 70 percent up from P2.65 billion on year.

Consunji said the company was on track meet its P12.5-billion to P13-billion net income target for 2015.

He said the company was keeping net income target for meantime, despite the temporary shutdown of Semirara’s coal mining operations following a landslide accident that killed 9 people,

Consjuni said Semirara had 500,000 tons of stockpile worth P1 billion, or good for one month of consumption.

“We hope to be able to resume operations before our stockpile runs out,” Consunji said.

Semirara, however, stopped its coal exports because of the shutdown ordered by the Energy Department.

Consunji said the company asked the Energy Department to clarify an order to “stop coal operations in affected areas” because other sectors in the Semirara mine operations were not affected by the landslide.

“Only the north Panian or the block 5 is affected. Other areas like Narra is not affected. So we want the Energy Department to clarify,” Consunji said.

Semirara has undertaken steps to prevent a similar situation from happening again in the future.

Semirara has purchased a slope stability radar from Austalia to monitor slope conditions in the mine areas and installed dewatering wells.

On the controversial Torre De Manila, the condominium project of DMCI’s real estate unit DMCI Homes, DMCI said it was confident the Supreme Court would uphold the company’s position.

Consunji said DMCI Homes secured all the required permits from the government and complied with all the laws before building Torre de Manila.

“There is also no law that defines or regulates visual corridors. And since Torre De Manila is over 800 meters behind the Rizal Monument, finding unobstructed angles when taking photos of, or with, the monument could be easily done,” Consunji said.

“To say, therefore, that Torre De Manila violated heritage laws or that it ruins the vista of the Rizal Monument is unfounded and recklessly false. It is an urban solution not a public nuisance,” he added.

Several groups are protesting the construction of the condominium building, saying it ruins the view of Jose Rizal’s monument in Manila. source