MANILA, Philippines — Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) registered a 64 percent drop in its net earnings in the nine months to September due to lower prices and demand for coal and electricity.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMPC said net income fell to P3 billion from P8.2 billion in the same period a year ago.
For the third quarter alone, the company posted a 71 percent drop in profit to P750 million from P2.58 billion in the third quarter of 2019.
“Coal segment in the third quarter of 2020 was affected by further decline in coal export prices and lower coal volume sold,”the company said.
SMPC sold 2.7 million metric tons (MT) of coal in the third quarter, eight percent higher than the 2.5 MMT sold in the second quarter, with a composite average price of P1,594 per MT.
Coal sales stood at 8.4 MMT from 12.1 MMT, a 30 percent drop year-on year. Composite average coal price also went down 20 percent year-on-year to P1,712 per MT from P2,133 per MT in the same period last year.
“Coal production is not significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as it posted 10.9 MMT from 12 MMT produced during the same period last year with a 9 percent drop year-on-year,”the company said.
For its power segment, the company said Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) was able to book additional contracted capacity of 150 megawatts (MW), bringing its contracted capacity to 221 MW.
In contrast, Sem-Calaca Power Corp. was hit by higher exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) with a 32 percent contracted capacity or 170 MW.