Kenya Power Managing Director Eng Joseph Njoroge
Revenues rose to Sh22 billion from the Sh20.6 billion registered in the same period in 2010 on account of increased unit sales.
“The company recorded a pre-tax profit of Sh3.4 billion during the period under review compared to Sh3.07 billion realised the same period the previous year an increase of Sh327 million or 10.6 percent,” the firm said in a statement to the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Increased thermal generation as a result of poor rains saw the fuel costs recovered from customers rise by a whopping 149.2 percent to Sh23.8 billion.
The company spent more funds to maintain its installations and facilities and this drove the transmission and distribution expenditure by 14 percent to Sh8.8 billion.
“Finance costs went up by Sh183 million to Sh427 million as a result of increased borrowings,” the statement further read although the company did not indicate what the money was spent on.
At the same time, power purchase costs however declined by 6.4 percent to Sh10.8 billion as a result of a write-back of the deferred power purchase costs of Sh700 million which were provided earlier for under-development plants but which have now come into operation.
The board has proposed an interim dividend payout of 20 cents per ordinary share which will be paid on or around May 31.
The company is however cautiously optimistic about the future, pointing to the rising demand for electricity, challenging economy and power supply constraints.
Managing Director Joseph Njoroge assured that they are continuing to invest in infrastructure in order to guarantee reliable power to their customers.
During the first half of the year for example, Kenya Power invested Sh7.9 billion in projects aimed at improving power supply. A further Sh9.6 billion will be spent on the implementation of similar projects in the second half.
“We are aware that our customers have not had quality electricity supply due to a weak infrastructure, increased vandalism and inadequate power supply. However, improvement of the quality of power supply and increasing electricity access remain our priority areas of focus,” Njoroge emphasised.
