Semirara sees ’18 profit

Consunji-led integrated energy company Semirara Mining and Power Corp. sees sustained profit growth for the full year as higher coal earnings and insurance claims against business interruption are seen making up for the shutdown of its power plants in the first quarter.

All four power plant units under Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) shut down in the first quarter.

Unit 2 of SCPC was offline for the most part of the quarter for scheduled preventive maintenance and technical inspection in relation to its rehabilitation program. Unit 2 of SLPGC was also shut down for preventive maintenance work.

The former resumed normal operations on March 17 while the latter went back online on April 16.

Meanwhile, unit 1 of SCPC and Unit 1 of SLPGC were forced to go on unplanned shutdowns in early March.

Unit 1 of SCPC went back online on March 17 but unit 1 of SLPGC will remain offline for repairs until August this year.

With the protracted shutdown of SLPGC Unit 1, SMPC began purchasing replacement power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the last week of March that had minimal impact on its first quarter earnings.

“Even with the plant shutdowns, we are on track to deliver full year growth,” Semirara president Victor Consunji said in a statement.

Junalina Tabor, chief financial officer at Semirara, said the company could still eke out higher earnings this year as higher coal prices would boost coal mining earnings.

The depreciation of the peso against the US dollar also improves coal earnings in terms of higher local currency equivalent of Semirara’s export receipts while local prices are also lifted by the foreign exchange component.

Semirara assumes that average coal prices this year at the international market will not go lower than $80 per metric ton, driven by demand from China, compared to last year’s range of $50 to $60 per ton.