During the year, Kenya Power launched the Last Mile Connectivity Project with the initial phase expected to kick off in this financial year.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 30 – Kenya Power customers increased to 3.6 million in 2014 compared to 2.7 million customers recorded in 2013, representing a 30 percent rise.
Chief Executive Officer Ben Chumo attributes this to various power projects during the year to enhance connectivity including the construction of new 20 sub-stations as well increase of power distribution lines.
“This is the first time that Kenya Power has managed to commission 20 power sub-stations within one year since its inception many years ago and this is quite an achievement for us. We plan to connect over one million customers every year,” Chumo said while announcing the firm’s 2014 full year results.
Electricity access in the country stood at 47 percent having gone up by 10 percent during the year.
The company constructed a total of 16,552 kilometres of low voltage lines during the year compared to 6,979 previously.
During the year, Kenya Power launched the Last Mile Connectivity Project with the initial phase expected to kick off in this financial year.
Pre-tax profit for the financial year rose to Sh12.2 billion from Sh11 billion recorded during the previous fiscal period. The growth in the annual trading results was due to increased sales as a result of improved power supply and increase connectivity buoyed by tariff increase effected from December 1, 2013.
“Our electricity sales grew by 5 percent to 7,130 million units from 6,790 million units recorded in the previous review period,” Chumo said.
Power purchase costs, excluding fuel and foreign exchange costs, increased from Sh30.659 billion to Sh44.46 billion due to additional capacity charges by Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and Independent Power Producers for new power plants.
The firm’s power purchase units increased by 4.5percent to 8,629 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 8,254.
As a result of the performance, the Directors of the Company have proposed a dividend of 50 cents for each ordinary share payable on February 29, 2016.
