Kenya Power has recorded a 91.98 percent decline in its net profit for the financial year ended, June 2019. The company’s profit after tax fell from Sh3.27B (2018) to Sh262M attributing the drop to increase in non-fuel power purchase costs following the commissioning of two power plants with a combined generation capacity of 360MW during the period. The purchase totaled to Sh70.878 billion from Sh52.79 billion in the previous year. Kenya Power, however, posted a 17.8 percent revenue growth of Sh112.429 billion, an increment of Sh16.994 billion from Sh95.435 billion in 2018 June financial year. The cost of fuel also decreased by 22.5 percent to 18.289 billion from Sh23.591 while the power purchase increased by Sh6 billion to Sh90.1 billion inclusive of fuel and foreign exchange costs.
Kenya Power’s revenue from electricity sales for the financial year 2018 was KShs.56.95 billion, a result of an increase in unit sales of 4,106 GWh compared to 3,893 GWh sold as at 31 December 2017 while the units purchased increased by 9% to 5,324 GWh from 4,882 GWh recorded in 2017. The transmission and distribution costs increased by 37.3% to KShs.21.7 billion from KShs.15.8 billion recorded during the period ended 31 December 2017. Finance costs increased by 23.5% to KShs.4.02 billion from KShs.3.25 billion incurred in the half-year period to 31st of December, 2017.
Kenya Power recently suffered a tariff blow when the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) lowered retail tariffs for big consumers to Sh7.99 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from Sh10.10 a unit, a 20.8 percent reduction, citing the need to boost economic growth, entice investors and leverage the country’s job creation efforts. Manufacturers operating in Special Economic Zones close to the Naivasha standard gauge railway (SGR) station are now paying Sh5 per kWh.
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