In a statement released on its website on Wednesday, the state-owned energy provider stated that it made an interim profit of 1.62 billion rand ($85 million) for the period ending September 30, up from a profit of 3.8 billion rand for the same time the previous year.
Eskom, which is dependent on public subsidies for survival and urgently has to lower its debt, faces further challenges as a result of the losses. To address a portion of its 400 billion rand debt, the National Treasury allocated a 254 billion rand debt-relief package earlier this year. Even with the assistance, Eskom still owes 408.62 billion rand, which is 6% more than it did a year ago.
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Due to operational difficulties, Eskom, a 100-year-old company that produces electricity from about 15 coal-fired plants, is unable to meet the nation’s demand for power and is being forced to ration electricity through a program known as loadshedding in the local community. As a result of the unstable electricity supply, businesses and households have been forced to look for alternative sources of energy, which has negatively impacted income production and sales.
Eskom reported a 10% increase in electricity revenue to 164.16 billion rand.
The monopoly’s financial situation is made even more unstable by declining sales. Although there have been some incremental gains in operational performance over time, these have not been sufficient to address the badly maintained generation units that continue require power outages.
The amount borrowed and owned in debt securities rose to 442.7 billion rand.
