Page 9 - Energize Issue 1 2023

INDUSTRY NEWS

Eskom annual results: finances up,

operating performance down

Eskom’s annual results show improvement in financial performance; however, continued poor

plant performance and high debt levels continue to be a concern

skom posted its annual results for the • Non-payment of debt by municipalities continued to erode Eskom’s finances
period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 on and had accumulated to R44,8 billion by March 2022
E23 December 2022. • Reduction in gross debt from R401,8 billion to R396,8 billion
During the period from June to December • R31,7 billion equity support received from government during this period
2022 plant performance deteriorated further • Continued unreliable Generation performance characterised by reduction in
and the depth and frequency of load shedding the energy availability factor (EAF) and subsequent loadshedding
increased dramatically. • Notable progress on the build programme with Medupi Unit 1 achieving
The full report for the 2022 financial year commercial operation on 31 July 2021
(1 April 2021 to • Performance by Transmission and Distribution network was at acceptable
31 March 2022) reflects 65 days (covering 1153 levels
hours) of load shedding. Eskom’s Eskom Se
Push app reflects 3775 hours (equivalent to 157 An improvement on all key financial indicators resulted in Eskom incurring
days) of load shedding – and at high stages with a net loss after tax of R12.3 billion in the financial year ended March 2022.
deeper cuts – for the calendar year January to This is a 51% improvement on the R25 billion net loss (restated) reported
December 2022. for the previous financial year. The financial loss is largely attributable to the
It is unclear why the power utility delayed unsustainably high finance costs and primary energy expenses, specifically the
the publication of its annual report. In years expenditure to supplement generation capacity through the usage of open
past, the annual results were published far cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). Expenditure on fuel for the OCGTs doubled to
earlier in the year. R14,7 billion, from R7 billion in 2021.

Key features of the 2022 annual results
(1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022)
• Revenue increased to R246,5 billion due to
15,06% tariff increase, supported by 3,4%
growth in sales volumes
• Improvement of R19,8 billion in EBITDA, an
improvement of 61% due to higher revenue
and cost control
• Operating profit improved with 238%, up
from R6 billion to R20,4 billion
• The net loss after tax reduced to R12,3
billion from R25 billion
• Improvement in cash from operations from
R31 billion to R53,4 billion, but still not
sufficient to cover debt servicing costs of
R70,7 billion
• Spending on open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs)
increased by more than 50% to R14.7 billion
from R7 billion in 2021
• Headcount reduction to 40 421 from 42
749 due to natural attrition and voluntary
separation packages (VSPs). There were no
retrenchments.

energize | Issue 1 2023 | 9