MANILA – Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) said its first-half royalty payments to the Energy department reached P1.69 billion, nearly three times the P575 million it paid during the same period last year.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday, the Consunji-led company said it remitted more to the government because it produced more coal and expanded its operations.
Victor A. Consunji, president and chief operating officer, said the company’s continued partnership with the Department of Energy allows it “to create and deliver shared value to the government and our host communities.”
“With the increased royalty payments, they can undertake more programs and projects for our countrymen,” he said in the disclosure.
The company has set a target of 16 million metric tons yearly in the next two to three years. Its output was 12 million metric tons last year.
SMPC said of the royalty payment for the first half, around P676 million will go to local government units where the company operates.
Local government units (LGU) are entitled to a 40% share of royalty proceeds from petroleum, coal, geothermal, hydrothermal and wind resources under the Local Government Code of 1991.
The company said by law, Antique province will receive P135 million while the municipality of Caluya and Barangay Semirara will receive P304 million and P237 million, respectively.
The rest of the P1.69 billion, or over P1 billion, will be retained by the National Government.
SMPC remittances accounted for 83% of the P2.2-billion government royalty collections from energy resource and production in 2015, according to the company’s regulatory filing. Its host region Western Visayas received the biggest LGU share at nearly P725 million.
“SMPC is the only power producer in the country that owns and mines its own fuel source, allowing it to generate affordable baseload power for the Luzon and Visayas grids,” the company said.
Shares in SMPC on Friday slipped by 1.67% to P44.25 each.
