SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) suffered a 43-percent drop in its net income after tax in the first quarter of the year to P1.2 billion from P2.3 billion in the same period in 2019 due to the decline in export sales of coal.
Export sales fell 20 percent to 1.6 million tons from 2 million tons in 2019 while domestic sales were almost the same level at 1.6 million tons year-on-year.
SMPC said the drop in global coal prices translated to a 16 percent decrease in coal average selling price quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year from P2,272 per ton to P1,900 per ton this quarter.
Its aggregate effective strip ratio for the quarter is at 18:1, 46 percent higher than 2019’s 12.5 :1 strip ratio but coal production dropped 22 percent from 4.1 million metric tons (MT) to 3.2 million MT this quarter.
Energy sales of SEM-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) increased by 8 percent to 692 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 638 GWh last year.
However, softer global coal prices and the new coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic dampened average energy prices.
SCPC’s average price declined 25 percent and SLPGC’s average energy price dropped 33 percent because of higher excess capacity and lower spot market prices.
SMPC is the only vertically-integrated power producer in the country that mines its own fuel source, allowing it to generate affordable baseload power
