Semirara Mining and Power Corp. said Wednesday it expects net income to double this year to more than P30 billion amid high coal prices.
SMPC posted a net income of P16.2 billion in 2021, the highest in its 41-year history, from P3.3 billion in 2020.
“This year, income is higher than last year mainly because of coal prices. Income more than double last year’s,” SMPC chairman Isidro Consunji said.
SMPC set a profit record in the first nine months to P36 billion, up 250 percent from P10.3 billion in the same period last year.
The company attributed the exceptional performance to elevated market prices, all-time high coal production and higher spot electricity sales volume.
“Historically, the third quarter is our slowest because of the rainy season and sluggish demand. But because of improved market prices, we did much better than expected,” said SMPC president and chief operating officer Maria Cristina Gotianun.
SMPC netted P10.2 billion in the third quarter, a 153-percent upswing from P4 billion in the same period last year.
The average selling prices of Semirara coal rallied by 122 percent from January to September to P5,224 per metric ton from P2,351 per MT due to the surge in global index prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Average Newcastle prices surged by 191 percent to $353.80 from $121.70, while average Indonesian Coal Index 4 expanded by 50 percent to $84.30 from $56.10.
SMPC said nine-month coal production grew by 27 percent from 10.8 million metric tons to a record 13.7 MMT due to controlled water seepage levels in the Molave mine and better coal access in East Block 4 and South Block 5.
SMPC’s power business posted a 216-percent increase in spot market sales to 1,546 gigawatt-hours from 489 GWh on a 5-percent uptick in plant availability, a 7-percent improvement in gross generation and pivot away from bilateral contracts.
Average spot selling price rose 38 percent to P7.33 per kilowatt-hour from P5.30 per kWh on recovering demand, higher fuel costs and thin power supply margins.