Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has posted 92 percent reduced profits for the that ended December 31, 2019, during the release of its unaudited trading results.
KPLC, however, has registered a 17.8 percent increase in revenue during the period under revenue. The net earnings for the year stood at 334 million shillings, a drop from 4,968 million shillings recorded in 2018.
The drop in the net earnings for the year 2019 for KPLC has been attributed to the increase in non-fuel power purchase costs by 18,083 million shillings from 52,795 million shillings in 2018 to 70,978 million shillings in 2019.
“Revenue from electricity sales grew by 16,994 million shillings from 95,435 million shillings the previous year to 112,429 million shillings,” said Imelda Bosire, the KPLC Secretary.
“The rise was attributed to a tariff review at the beginning of the year prior to the subsequent tariff harmonization that lower rates for Small Commercial Customers and broadened lifeline tariff for Domestic Customers,” she added.
According to the Energy Regulatory Commission, over 3.6 million Kenya Power customers who consume less than 10 units per billing cycle, now pay between 36 and 82 percent less for electricity as the regulator also announced the removal of the KSh150 standing charge in 2018.
Kenya Power’s finance costs rose by 46.4 percent to 3,267 million shillings due to increased levels of short-term borrowing ‘to bridge cash flow shortfalls’ and foreign exchange losses.
As a result, its income after tax was 262 million shillings compared to 3.268 million shillings the previous year after taking into account a tax charge of 72 million shillings.
Kenyan Business Feed is the top Kenyan Business Blog. We share news from Kenya and across the region. To contact us with any alert, please email us to [email protected]
