Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) has declared record-high special cash dividends of P14.88 billion, based on the approval granted by its board of directors on October 10 this year.

The company noted that the special cash dividends will form part of the payout that it has been extending to its shareholders as spread within various quarters this 2023.

In a statement to the media, SMPC conveyed that the special cash dividends will be paid to its shareholders as of record date October 23, 2023; while remittance of payments at P3.50 per share will be next month.

“Ex-dividend date will be on October 20, 2023 while payment will be made on November 8, 2023,” the Consunji firm has announced.

SMPC qualified that this special cash dividend is “on top of the P14.88 billion in regular (P1.80 per share) and special (P1.70 per share) cash dividends paid out in April this year, which translated to P3.50 per share for eligible shareholders.”

The company expounded that “with this additional special cash dividend, the total dividend payout of SMPC to its shareholders for 2023 will be P29.75 billion,” which is touted to be the highest in the company’s history of operations.

SMPC indicated that its total annual dividend of P7.00 per share “translates to a cash dividend yield of almost 20 percent based on its October 6, 2023 closing price of P35.00.”

Given its all-time high income of P39.9 billion last year, the shareholders of SMPC were also treated with exceptional scale of dividend payments which reached aggregate P21 billion last year.

During the company’s stockholders meeting last May, SMPC Chairman Isidro A. Consunji sounded off their target to continue bolstering up profitability so they can also yield more promising value to shareholders.

“Our primary challenge lies in sustaining our company's growth and success. We are exploring alternative revenue streams, such as expanding our power generation capacity and pursuing new mining opportunities beyond Semirara Island,” he said.

Consunji further stated that  “to manage market risks, we are enhancing our power generation capabilities while maintaining low fuel costs.”

Additionally, SMPC President Maria Cristina Gotianun specified that part of the company’s strategy is to diversify its coal export market by broadening its base of buyers in offshore markets, primarily penetrating Japan and South Korea; while also reinforcing sales to domestic users of its Semirara coal output.

“We reduced our dependence on China and redirected our marketing efforts to local coal buyers,” she stressed.