Eskom lifts profits by 22% to R11.3bln
Eskom said on Tuesday that it was on a path to stability as it reported a 22 percent increase in profit, from R9.3 billion to R11.3 billion, on the back of an 8 percent improvement in revenue to R87.9 billion in the six months to the end of September.
Chief executive Brian Molefe said the company, which had electrified an additional 41 778 households during the period, had “made significant strides in key areas of the business, a move that has placed the company on a path to operational and financial stability”.
A statement from the company noted the increase of 11.2 percent in repairs and maintenance costs to R3.7 billion due to the strategy to perform more planned maintenance, and added that the Tetris maintenance planning tool had helped in the execution of planned maintenance without load shedding.
Molefe said balancing supply and demand had been a challenge for the first quarter of the financial period, but had improved in the second quarter, where there were 108 days with only 2 hours and 20 minutes of load shedding recorded on September 14.
At September 30 municipal arrears stood at R5.6 billion, with the top 20 defaulting municipalities contributing R4.3 billion or 76 percent of the total. Eskom said it had signed payment agreements with 50 defaulting municipalities, including 15 of the top 20.
“Going forward, our focus will remain on minimising load shedding, ensuring adequate liquidity, filling key vacancies and improving staff morale. We are also targeting operational efficiencies and an improvement in safety,” Molefe said. - ANA