Eskom interim profit plunges 89% from year ago

Eskom’s first-half profit plunged 89% and the situation at the South African state-owned power utility is likely to worsen in the next six months, Chairman Jabu Mabuza said.

Profit plunged to R671 million in the six months through September from R6.3 billion a year earlier, while finance costs rose to R15.2 billion from R11.9 billion, Mabuza told a presentation in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The company’s debt burden is “impossibly high,” Mabuza said, even as it reported improved liquidity and announced that 73% of funding for 2018-19 is secured.

Acting Chief Financial Offer Calib Cassim was appointed to the role on a permanent basis.

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