Semirara Mining and Power Corp. of the Consunji Group said Wednesday net income jumped 311 percent in the first six months to P25.8 billion from P6.3 billion in the same period last year on the back of record coal prices.
It is the company’s highest net income for any given semester, driven by all-time high coal selling prices and increased spot electricity sales volume at elevated prices.
Coal and SEM-Calaca Power Corp.’s contributions soared 364 percent and 299 percent, respectively, while that of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. rose 7 percent in the first half.
About 85 percent of the group’s net income came from coal, followed by SCPC at 11 percent and SLPGC at 4 percent.
SCPC and SLPGC generated baseload power for the Luzon-Visayas grid. Both supply electricity through bilateral contract quantity and the wholesale electricity spot market.
SMPC posted P10.8-billion profit in the second quarter, up 171 percent from P4 billion a year ago. The company’s best-ever second quarter performance was attributable to higher selling prices for coal and spot electricity.
“As expected, we had a weaker performance quarter over quarter because of the China lockdowns but compared to last year, we did very well,” said SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun.
“We maintain our view that the second semester will be anemic because of market volatility and unfavorable weather conditions,” she said.
Contributions from the coal segment grew 195 percent in the second quarter to P9 billion from P3 billion, while SCPC accounted for P1 billion, up 81 percent from P581 million.
SLPGC contributed P742 million, a 107-percent increase from P359 million.
Total coal shipments from April to June dropped 24 percent to 3.7 million metric tons from 4.9 million MT as China imposed COVID-19 lockdowns and shifted to Russian coal.
Export sales plunged 44 percent to 1.8 million MT from 3.2 million MT, while domestic sales grew by 12 percent to 1.9 million MT from 1.7 million MT.
The 126-percent increase in average selling prices to P5,399 from P2,393, the highest for any given quarter, buffered the impact of lower shipments.
Heavy rainfall and higher stripping activities curbed coal production, dropping 21 percent to 3.4 million MT from 4.3 million MT.
Gross power generation in the second quarter was flat at 984 gigawatt-hours as SCPC Unit 2 remained on forced outage because of a defective generator stator.
Total electricity sales declined 9 percent to 900 GWh from 987 GWh, of which 56 percent was sold to the spot market while 393 GWh was sold through bilateral contracts.
High uncontracted capacity allowed SMPC to boost spot electricity sales by 188 percent to 507 Gwh from 176 GWh. Average spot selling prices remained elevated at P6.91 versus P6.87 last year.
