South African utility Eskom reported on Tuesday (30) its first annual profit in eight years, driven by public debt relief, higher tariffs, and a sharp reduction in power cuts.
Eskom posted an after-tax profit of $927.24 million for the year ended March 2025, compared with a $3.1 billion loss in the previous year.
The state-owned company’s power cuts have hampered South Africa’s economic growth for more than a decade, while its repeated bailouts have drained public finances. But the frequency of outages has dropped drastically since early last year, following a sudden turnaround in the performance of its coal-fired power plant fleet.
There were only 13 days of load-shedding in the last fiscal year, compared with a record 329 days the year before.
The company announced it will reinvest profits into infrastructure, with a target of $18.5 billion in investments over the next five years. The biggest threat to its future remains the debt owed by municipalities and metropolitan areas, which accounts for 42% of its sales.
Municipal debt stood at $5.9 billion in August, up from $5.4 billion in March this year and $4.3 billion in March 2024.
“No organization would survive if it weren’t paid for its services. By 2030, arrears will exceed $17 billion,” said Eskom Chief Financial Officer Calib Cassim at a press conference.
An audit report stressed that concerns remain over Eskom’s viability as a company, citing rising municipal debt among other factors.
Source: Reuters
