Semirara Mining and Power Corp (SMPC) set a new profit record in the first nine months of the year, as its consolidated net income surged 250 percent to P36 billion from P10.3 billion—more than double its 2021 net income of P16.2 billion.
Its exceptional performance was mainly due to the combined effect of 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 COO Maria Cristina C. Gotianun.
For the third quarter alone, SMPC netted P10.2 billion, a 153-percent upswing from P4 billion in the same period last year.
From January to September, average selling prices of Semirara coal rallied by 122 percent from P2,351/metric ton (MT) to P5,224/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 from $56.10 to $84.30.
Nine-month coal production grew by 27 percent from 10.8 million metric tons (MMT) to a record 13.7 MMT due to controlled water seepage levels in Molave mine and better coal access in East Block 4 and South Block 5.
Meanwhile, its power business posted a 216-percent increase in spot market sales from 489 gigawatt hours (GWh) to 1,546 GWh owing to a 5-percent uptick in plant availability, 7-percent improvement in gross generation and pivot away from bilateral contracts.
Its average spot selling price rose by 38 percent from P5.30 to P7.33 on recovering demand, higher fuel costs and thin power supply margins.