the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

The Department of Energy deserves credit for insisting on a competitive rebidding of the Semirara coal blocks instead of granting an outright extension to Semirara Mining and Power Corporation’s current coal operating contract, which expires in July 2027. The DOE has made clear that the Semirara area will be included in the 2026 coal bid round, and that awards will be based on technical, financial, legal, and work-program qualifications rather than on a simple highest-bid-wins formula.  That is the right policy. But good policy does not guarantee intense competition. The more difficult question is whether many serious players will actually want to commit capital to a coal asset at a time when the economics of coal are no longer what they were just a few years ago. Semirara’s own results suggest the answer may be more complicated than the optics of an open auction imply. Coal is clearly no longer in the 2022–2024 supercycle conditions. In 2025, Semirara Mining and Power Corporation ...

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer:  This is for informational purposes and is  not  investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Wars don’t just move armies—they move molecules . And when energy trade routes start pricing in disruption, governments quickly rediscover a political constant: nothing tests public patience faster than rising electricity prices . The ongoing US–Iran conflict has heightened uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints—raising the risk premium on delivered crude and LNG through a mix of shipping hesitation, security risk, and insurance repricing. For the Philippines, the consequence is immediate: when imported fuels reprice higher, the government’s room for policy experiments narrows. That shifts the calculus around a seemingly technical ...

We have earlier commented that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant adverse impact on the operations and finances of DMCI Holdings, Inc. ( DMC ) during the first half of 2020 (1H 2020) which resulted to a weaker financial footing for DMC as of end of 1H 2020 . The weakness in the results of DMC sent it shares plummeting to a low of 3.40 a share almost revisiting the 3.10 a share low at the height of the sell down in March 2020. The Consunji’s took advantage of the weakness in the share price of DMC, accumulating DMC shares along the way. We have commented earlier that the Consunji’s private holding company, DFC Holdings, Inc., had accumulated a total of 55,425,100 DMC shares as of the end of August 2020 . It appears now that DFC Holdings is not yet done accumulating DMC shares. For the first two weeks of September 2020, DFC Holdings bought 3,892,000 DMC shares. The Consunji’s accumulation of DMC shares signals that they have the operational and financial expertis...