KPLC's Half Year Profits Before Tax down by 1.7%

Kenya Power & Lighting Company recorded a marginal decrease of 1.7% in profits before tax for the six month period ending 31 December 2016. The decrease was due to a decline in finance income recorded in the previous period.

Generally revenues increased by 5% standing at Ksh 59.6 Billion compared to Ksh 56.7 Billion in the previous period. This increase in revenue was largely attributed to a Ksh 4.1 Billion increase in Electricity revenues from Ksh 41.7 billion in 2015 to Ksh 45.8 billion in 2016.

Operating expenditures increased by 5.2% from Ksh 49.1 billion in 2015 to Ksh 51.6 billion in 2016. Power purchasing costs increased by Ksh 1.2 billion to stand at Ksh 26.1 billion. The company attributes this increase due to a 5.6% increase in unit purchases from 4,532 GWh in the previous year to a current 4,786 GWh. Transmission and distribution costs increased to Ksh 16.2 billion from Ksh 13.1 billion in the previous period due to expansion and maintenance of the company’s electricity network.

The company’s cash and cash equivalents decreased by 93.2% from Ksh 13.6 billion in 2015 to Ksh 925 million in 2016. This drop in cash is due to the implementation of various capital projects. The power company commenced construction of 36 substations in the previous financial period and the projects are at various stages of completion with some expected to be completed this year.

In the markets KPLC was last spotted trading at Ksh 6.95/share. The counter is down 13.19% year to date.