Kenya power engineers fixing a power transformer. Photo | courtesy.
Kenya Power has announced a big increase in profits. In the last six months of 2024, the company made Sh9.97 billion in net profit, a huge jump from Sh319 million during the same time in 2023.
Because of this success, Kenya Power will pay a dividend of Sh0.20 per share to its shareholders. This is the first time in nine years that the company is giving out dividends. Shareholders can expect to receive this payment around April 11, 2025. To be eligible, investors must own shares by February 8, 2025.
The company sold more electricity, with unit sales going up by 5 per cent to 5,506 Gigawatt per hour from 5,225 Gigawatt per hour.
Kenya Power says that the profits came as a result of increased power consumption, improved connectivity and reduced power outages.
“The increase in electricity unit sales was driven by higher consumption as a result of improved network reliability, connection of new customers and improved outage resolution timelines supported by availability of critical materials including meters and transformers,” Kenya Power said in a report.
Even though sales went up, the total money earned from electricity went down by 5.4 per cent to Sh107.4 billion from Sh113.6 billion in December 2023. This drop happened because the company lowered its prices.
Impact Of Kenya Shilling Stabilization
Kenya Power also saved money by paying off loans as a result of Kenyan Shilling becoming stronger. It helped to reduce finance costs from Sh15.0 billion to Sh1.9 billion.
“This growth in profitability is attributed to lower cost of sales and reduced finance costs owing to the stability of the Kenya Shilling against major foreign currencies during the period under review, and an increase in electricity sales by 5 per cent,” the company said.
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The cost to buy power also went down by Sh1.7 billion to Sh71.4 billion. This is because many agreements to buy power are in foreign currencies and the stronger Shilling made these deals cheaper.
However, the company spent more on things like staff salaries, equipment upkeep, and other operating costs. These expenses went up by Sh4 billion to Sh23.7 billion.
Kenya Power’s strong performance has led to a big increase in its share price. Over the past year, the share price has risen by 454.3 per cent to Sh7.76 per share as of the morning of January 31, 2025.
