JOHANNESBURG – South African state-owned power utility Eskom on Tuesday forecast a continued improvement in its finances in the coming years, after recording its first full-year profit in eight years last financial year.
In a presentation to a parliamentary committee, Eskom projected a pre-tax profit of 25.8 billion rand ($1.5 billion) this financial year, about 8% more than last year. Eskom's financial year runs until the end of March.
The next financial year saw pre-tax profit of 30.1 billion rand, rising to 35.4 billion rand the following year.
Eskom said its performance would be driven by operational improvements in its power station fleet and ongoing government debt relief.
The former state monopoly is still the country's dominant electricity supplier, generating electricity mostly from coal-fired plants, although it also operates a nuclear plant and some smaller facilities that burn diesel or tap water.
It imposed regular power cuts, stifling growth in Africa's largest economy.
The frequency of its outages has reduced dramatically: this month Eskom reported 300 consecutive days without power cuts. There were 13 days of power cuts in the last financial year and a record 329 days last year.
Eskom said on Tuesday the municipality's outstanding debt remained a major financial risk, with the outstanding balance reaching 110.5 billion rand and projected to rise further.
Eskom plans up to 343 billion rand of internally funded capital expenditure over the next five years. It added that it could also initiate public-private partnerships outside that spending limit.
($1 = 16.9441 rand)