Semirara Mining and Power Corp. tripled its first-half royalty payments to the Energy Department to P1.69 billion from P575 million year-on-year.
“Our continued partnership with the DoE allows us to create and deliver shared value to the government and our host communities. With the increased royalty payments, they can undertake more programs and projects for our countrymen,” said SMPC president and chief operating officer Victor Consunji.
SMPC attributed the surge in government remittances to increased production and expanding operations.
The company aims to increase coal production to 16 million metric tons in the next two to three years. SMPC produced 12 million metric tons of the indigenous fuel in 2016.
SMPC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday about P676 million of the P1.69-billion royalty payments would go to the local government units where SMPC operates.
The province of Antique will receive P135 million while the municipality of Caluya and Barangay Semirara will receive P304 million and P237 million, respectively. The rest of the amount, or over P1 billion, will be retained by the national government.
Under the Local Government Code of 1991, local government units are entitled to a 40 percent share of royalty proceeds from petroleum, coal, geothermal, hydrothermal and wind resources.
SMPC remittances in 2015 accounted for 83 percent of the P2.2 billion in total government royalty collections from energy resource and production.
Western Visayas, SMPC’s host region, received the biggest LGU share at nearly P725 million.
SMPC recorded a 24-percent increase in net income after tax in the first half to P7.86 billion from P6.36 billion on year due to higher coal production and electricity output.
SMPC earlier announced that net of eliminations, its coal business, Sem-Calaca Power Corp., and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. contributed P4.23 billion, P2.14 billion, and P1.50 billion, respectively.
Before eliminations, coal, Sem-Calaca, and SLPGC recorded a core net income after tax of of P5.32 billion, P1.15 billion and PHP1.40 billion, respectively.
Sem-Calaca owns the 600 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas which the Consunji Group acquired from the government in July 2009.
SLGPC, meanwhile, owns 300-MW coal plant expansion also in Calaca, Batangas.
SMPC owns the country’s biggest coal mining operations in Antique.