Consunji energy firm’s profit down 71% in Q3

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. saw its after-tax profit drop by 71% to P750 million in the third quarter of the year, affected by the decline in coal and energy sales.

Its net profit in the nine months to September fell by 64% to P8.2 billion, the Consunji-led integrated power firm said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday.

The firm’s earnings from coal took a 57% dive year-on-year to P3 billion. It recorded a 111% slump in the profit of its subsidiary Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC), incurring a P230-million loss, while Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) saw its profits climb by 120% to P170 million after completing its power plants’ life extension program.

According to the company, its coal business got hit by the decline in coal export prices and lower coal sales. Year-to-date, it sold 8.4 million metric tons (MT) of coal, a 30% decrease from the same period a year ago. Its effective composite average price also went down by a fifth to P1,712 per MT.

In the third quarter, however, it sold 2.7 million metric tons (MT) of coal between July and September, an 8% uptick from the previous quarter.

The coronavirus pandemic caused no significant effect on its coal production, which reduced by 9% to 10.9 million MT in three quarters to September.

On its power segment, SLPGC sold 23% less electricity to 1,045 gigawatt-hours (GWh) between January and September.

In July-September, it improved its net power generation to 389 GWh from 215 GWh in the past quarter. However, the generated capacity was 29% lower than in the same months a year ago due to unplanned outages in the third and fourth units of its power plants.

Its composite price averaged at P2.79 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared with P4.15/kWh in the same period in 2019. The company has raised its contracted capacity to 221 MW.

Meanwhile, SCPC sold more power since the start of the year, increasing by 56% to 2,146 GWh, compared with the level last year.

The company raised its generated power to 1,055 GWh in the third quarter, a 33% increase from the second quarter, attributed to the full operations of its power plant units. Considering net generation, it went up by 139% to 2,310 GWh year-on-year.

It also saw a lower composite price so far this year, averaging at P2.77/kWh, than P3.78/kWh in the same months last year. The power subsidiary was said to be hit by higher exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market with 32% contracted capacity or 170 MW.

Semirara Mining and Power is the only vertically integrated power producer in the Philippines using its own mines to source coal for its baseload plants.

Shares in the company fell by 7.89% to close at P10.74 each on Monday. — Adam J. Ang