Kenya Power profit rises to Sh6bn
Kenya Power technicians switch power lines from a wooden to a concrete pole near the NCPB Deport in Industrial Area, Nakuru, on September 23, 2014. Kenya Power will spend Sh70 million in the next one week to improve power supply in Kisii County and its environs. FILE PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Kenya Power, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, adopted a new accounting principle that saw it review downwards last year’s earnings from Sh4.35 billion to Sh3.45 billion.
- He said the company recorded an increase in consumption of electricity among domestic, large and medium commercial and industrial consumers which pushed up sales.
Kenya Power has posted an 87.4 per cent growth in profit after tax for the year ended June 2014, on account of increased sales, tariff review and system efficiency.
The electricity distributor made Sh6.46 billion, up from the Sh3.45 billion earned in 2013.
Kenya Power, which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, adopted a new accounting principle that saw it review downwards last year’s earnings from Sh4.35 billion to Sh3.45 billion.
Electricity sales went up by 9.8 per cent to Sh6.7 billion from Sh6.18 billion over a similar period last year.
This pushed up sales revenue by 30.6 per cent to Sh62.6 billion, from Sh47.9 billion recorded in 2013.
Weakening of the shilling against world majors like the US dollar and euro, however, ate into Kenya Power’s bottom line.
“The exchange loss on loans and completed projects was Sh884 million compared to Sh15 million in the previous years due to the unfavourable exchange rates,” Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo said in a statement.
He said the company recorded an increase in consumption of electricity among domestic, large and medium commercial and industrial consumers which pushed up sales.
Shareholders will earn a Sh0.5 dividend per share having frozen the same in last period after it recorded a loss.
Finance costs, on the other hand, grew by more than half to Sh4 billion, from Sh2.5 billion in 2013 due to what the company described as increased interest costs on debt taken to finance operations and network expansion.
