CONSUNJI-LED Semirara Mining and Power Corp.’s (SMPC) board of directors has approved a special cash dividend of P1.50 per outstanding share to stockholders on record as of Oct. 29, 2024, with the aggregate payout amounting to P10.6 billion.
The ex-dividend date will be on October 28, while payment will be made on November 14, the firm told the stock exchange on Wednesday.
“With this additional cash dividend, the total payout of SMPC to its shareholders for 2024 will reach P25.50 billion,” translating to a 91-percent payout, the miner said.
The total dividend payout for 2024 would be “well above the company’s dividend policy” and equates to 20 percent of SMPC’s reported net income last year, it added.
SMPC reported a consolidated net income of P27.93 billion for 2023, down 30 percent from the previous year’s P39.87 billion. It said that a sharp correction in market prices partially offset “all-time high” coal shipments and electricity sales volume.
In April, SMPC paid out P14.88 billion, or P3.50 per share, in regular and special dividends, for a total annual dividend of P6.00 per share. This translated to a cash dividend yield of almost 18 percent based on its October 15 closing price of P34.00 per share.
For the first half of this year, the miner saw net income drop 34 percent to P12.59 billion from P19.21 billion a year earlier amid higher production costs and lower selling prices of coal and electricity.
“Despite our efforts to manage costs and improve operational efficiencies, the persistent decline in global coal and electricity prices has significantly impacted our financial performance,” SMPC President and Chief Operating Officer Maria Cristina Gotianun said.
Gotianun said last month that SMPC was doing a trial run in Japan for coal exports.
SMPC’s coal shipments from January to June edged up just 2 percent to 4.6 million metric tons (MMT) from 4.5 MMT last year, while its power business recorded total gross generation of 1,352 gigawatt-hours (GWh), up 12 percent from 1,212 GWh.
Gotianun said that coal prices in the second half would likely remain at P2,780 per metric ton, adding that SMPC expected coal production, electricity demand, and spot prices to decline due to the onset of the rainy season.
Semirara shares closed unchanged at P34 each on Wednesday amid a 0.26-percent dip for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
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