Power utility Eskom has announced a 10.5% increase in revenue for the six months ended September 2016, to R97 billion.
Under fire CEO, Brian Molefe said that 99,869 additional households were electrified compared to 41,778 households for the comparative period – an increase of 139%.
Eskom has a total customer base of 5.8 million with 5.7 million residential customers.
The chief executive highlighted an EBITDA of R31.5 billion, representing an increase of 23% compared to the same period in 2015, while cost savings amounted to R8 billion.
Molefe said that cash generated from operating activities increased by 39% to R31.9 billion compared to the comparative period, while 86% of funding for 2016/17 has been secured
In July, the group said that bottom line profit for the year ending March 2016 was R4.6 billion.
Revenue rose 10.6% to R163.4 billion. The public utility’s EBITDA increased by 37.4% to R32 billion, up from R23.3 billion reported in the previous year.
Municipalities
Molefe said that primary energy costs decreased by 1.5%, compared to an average increase of 18% over the last 5 years, while overall electricity sales volumes increased by 1.2% over the reporting period.
Arrear debt by municipalities, excluding interest, increased from R5.9 billion (September 2015) to R9.2 billion.
The utility said that the collection level in the problem area of Soweto reduced from 18% (September 2015) to 14%. It said that 6,345 post-paid meters were converted to prepaid meters during the period in the area.
Moreover, 12,123 smart meters were installed during the period in Midrand, Soweto and Sandton.
Eskom’s CEO also championed the fact that the country had gone more than 450 days without load-shedding. Molefe said that the company’s turnaround continues to stabilise the organisation. “Eskom is on sound and sustainable operational and financial footing,” he said.
“We remain focused on bringing new capacity online,” Molefe said.
