Semirara Mining and Power Corp. said Wednesday net income in 2015 climbed 23 percent to P8.45 billion from P6.86 billion in 2014, on higher contribution of the power business.
Semirara, a company controlled by the Consunji Group, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated earnings per share also improved to P7.91 in 2015 from P6.42 a year earlier.
Production and coal sales were recorded at 7.98 million metric tons and 8.4 million MT, respectively. “Despite the two-month suspension of operations due to the Panian mine accident in July, production targets were still met as favorable weather conditions enabled operations to achieve higher operating days in four quarters compared to budget,” it said.
The average price of coal was registered at P1,945 per MT in 2015, down by 9 percent from P2,127 per MT in 2014 as a result of continuous softening of global coal prices.
Meanwhile, the power segment posted a net income after tax of P3.32 billion, up by 28 percent from P2.59 billion in 2014.
The company attributed the improvement to the good performance of the 600-megawatt Calaca coal-fired facility in Batangas, with a record gross energy generation of 3,959 gigawatt-hours, up 39 percent from 2014.
“Thus, despite the expiration of the power plant’s income tax holiday in 2014, it was still able to register a higher net income,” Semirara said.
“The net contribution to the bottom line by the coal, Sem-Calaca Power Corp., and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp., after eliminations, are P2.87 billion, P5.50 billion, and P86 million, respectively,” it said.
The company’s subsidiary Sem-Calaca Power Corp. operates the existing 600-megawatt Calaca coal-fired facility in Batangas while South Luzon Power is the the project vehicle for the 300-MW expansion.
Before eliminations, the coal segment’s net income after tax dropped 13 percent to P6.72 billion from P7.76 billion in 2014, on lower dividend income from its power subsidiary.
Sem-Calaca Power posted a dividend income of P1.5 billion last year, down from P3.5 billion in 2014.
Total energy sold reached 3,754 Gwh, or 11 percent higher than 2014’s 3,383 Gwh. Unit 1 and Unit 2 of the 600-MW coal plant registered higher availability at 91 percent and 84 percent, respectively from 84 percent and 50 percent in 2014.
Average price of electricity in 2015 softened 6 percent to P3.41 per kilowatt-hour compared to P3.64 per kWh in 2014 due to lower Newcastle Index which is the benchmark of fuel pass-through.
The 300-MW new expansion plant, which is still on-going commissioning, was able to contribute P86 million.