By Myrna M. Velasco – February 28, 2023, 4:39 PM
from Manila Bulletin
Owing to sky-high prices of coal in the global market last year, Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) an posted all-time high net income of P39.9 billion in 2022, more than double its P16.2 billion profit in 2021.
According to the vertically integrated energy company, “robust domestic coal shipments and higher spot electricity sales, along with elevated market prices account for the record-breaking results.”
The main driver to the company’s record-high profitability last year had been its coal mining operations – that with its improved output, it was able to fully take advantage of higher coal prices as supplied to users in the Philippine market as well as for capacity traded internationally.
SMPC emphasized that its domestic coal sales “jumped by 33-percent from 5.8 million metric tons (MT) to a historic high of 7.7 million MT.”
Nevertheless, the company indicated that its exports “slumped by 24 percent from 9.4 million MT to 7.1 million MT.” Revenues from lower export volumes, however, had been compensated by soaring prices in the world market, hence, that still greatly propped the firm’s bottom line.
As stated by SMPC president and COO Maria Cristina C. Gotianun, “last year, we focused on the Philippine, South Korean and other ASEAN markets to lessen our dependency on China, which had been importing heavily discounted Russian coal.”
She explained that the company’s strategy on diversifying its market focus “allowed us to get the best price for our inventory,” thus, that enabled the unprecedented financial success that SMPC logged last year.
The average selling price of coal mined from Semirara climbed by 91-percent to record-level P5,136 from P2,695 per ton, “on the back of soaring index prices and higher-grade coal sold,” the company noted.
On the power generation segment of SMPC’s business, its subsidiaries SEM-Calaca Power Corporation (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation, similarly registered uptick of 83-percent in their energy sales to 1,881 gigawatt-hours last year from 1,028 GWh in 2021.
The Consunji firm expounded that the 35-percent hike in prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) – which reached a level of P7.46 per kilowatt hour (kWh) – further shored up the company’s profitability last year.
As highlighted by the company, such development in the spot market had been precipitated by thin supply-demand margins, as well as the escalating fuel prices.
Last year’s fourth quarter, however, had already manifested downtrend in the company’s income – with it dipping by 34-percent to P3.9 billion versus P5.9 billion within comparative period in 2021.
SMPC said that had been due to “higher stripping costs, lower average foreign exchange rate and an income tax and related expense of P1 billion in relation to the deferral of the Molave mine income tax holiday for the year 2020.”
On coal sales, there had been an increase of 20-percent to 3.0 million MT from 2.5 million MT; and what still emerged as key driver had been domestic demand with 73-percent jump to 1.9 million MT versus 1.1 million MT in. 2021.
Coal prices remained to be the company’s trump card, hitting an average of P4,861 per ton vis-à-vis P4,452 in a comparative period; and that had been preliminarily attributed to the “combined effect of elevated market prices and 242-percent increase in lower-grade coal sales from 212,431 MT to 736,674 MT.”
The income share of its power generation ventures had been relatively tamed within October-December stretch last year, as sales posted 38-percent decline to 335 GWh from 538 GWh, although that was partly offset when spot prices leaped to P8.06 per kWh from P5.69 per kWh.
PHILIPPINE POWER INSIGHTS 