ESKOM POSTS $563M INTERIM PROFIT
...but still expects full-year loss
JOHANNESBURG
- Es kom reported a 4, 000 percent improvement in net profit for the six months ended in September.
The power utility report ed a $563 million interim profit for the six months ended in September, but still expects to incur a R9.1 billion loss when the finan cial year ends in March.
"I’m very pleased to say our financial results show improvements across all key profitability metrics," Eskom CEO André de Ruy ter said during the utility’s half-year results presenta tion on Wednesday.
The $563 million net profit is an improvement of over 4 000 percent from the R216 million profit recorded in the comparative period.
Eskom earnings, too, were up a massive 58 percent to reach R44.8 billion, helped along by an eight percent growth in electricity sales volumes and a 15 percent tariff increase in the period under review.
Gross debt also de creased by 15 percent to R392 billion, down from R463 billion in the compar ative period. The utility’s gearing ratio has decreased from 72 percent to 61 percent.
"This is not where we want to be as Eskom to ensure sustainability, but I think it’s a great start in the right direction," said CFO Calib Cassim, noting that certain key metrics are clearly now improving, as the utility's assets for the first time in a long time now exceed its liabilities.
The projected year-end loss of R9.1 billion consid ers that the first half of Es kom’s financial year tends to be better than the second because it spans the win ter months when there are higher electricity sales and tariffs.
The utility has also tend ed to incur lower primary energy and maintenance costs over this period.
It also managed to keep coal costs down. "This breaks a trend over a num ber of years of double-dig it increases in the cost of coal," De Ruyter said.
Primary energy costs went up 14 percent with a key cost driver being the use of diesel for emergency turbines in a bid to keep the lights on.
As at the end of Septem ber, Eskom’s plant availabil ity declined to 65 percent, down from 67.8 percent in the comparative period. While load shedding was severe with some 427 GWh in energy shed, it was in fact slightly better than the 443 GWh recorded for the six months to September last year.