KEY POINTS
- Eskom posts a sharp rise in interim profit as operational stability improves.
- Load shedding nearly disappears, though non technical losses continue to drain revenue.
- Municipal arrears worsen, pushing government to shift some councils to new distribution arrangements.
Eskom has reported a profit after tax of R24.3 billion for the six months to the end of September, a sizeable improvement on the R17.8 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier.
The figures, which are unaudited, offer another sign that the utility’s turnaround efforts are beginning to show results, coming only weeks after it confirmed its first full year of profitability in eight years for the 2025 financial year.
Profit before tax rose to R32.5 billion, an increase of 41 percent, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation edged up by 11 percent to R68.5 billion. Revenue was slightly firmer at R191.3 billion, helped in part by the tariff increase of 12.74 percent introduced at the beginning of April. Sales volumes slipped by 3 percent to 92.8 TWh, with domestic demand soft but international sales creeping up to 6.8 TWh.
Operational gains lift morale inside the utility
Eskom says its operations have settled into a more stable rhythm, with only 26 hours of load shedding recorded across four evenings during the period. There has been no load shedding at all since the middle of May. The smoother performance coincided with Kusile Unit 6 entering commercial service at 799 MW, and the return of Medupi Unit 4 at 720 MW. Despite these gains, non technical losses remain a stubborn and costly problem. They amounted to 7.9 TWh and represent roughly R17.5 billion in revenue that Eskom cannot recover.
Chair Mteto Nyati said the interim showing reinforces that the utility’s performance in the previous financial year was not a one off, and that the mood inside the organisation has noticeably shifted.
Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane added that the improvement is essential for Eskom to fund its capital programme of about R320 billion over the next five years. That investment is intended to protect the generation fleet, extend the transmission network and support an expected increase in national generation capacity from 66 GW to around 107 GW by 2034. A stronger grid is seen as key to allowing more renewable power to come online.
Municipal arrears, however, continue to weigh on the system. Total overdue debt has now reached R105 billion, even though 71 municipalities have enrolled in the national debt relief initiative. Cabinet has agreed that municipalities that consistently fail to meet their responsibilities will be shifted to distribution agency agreements, effectively placing parts of their electricity operations under Eskom’s temporary supervision. The model would allow Eskom to take charge of collections, curb losses and accelerate the rollout of smart meters.
Looking further ahead, Eskom is aiming to phase out load reduction entirely by March 2027 through a combination of advanced metering and distributed energy resources for nearly 1.7 million customers.
Although Eskom traditionally generates stronger results in the first half of the year, the utility expects profit after tax for the 2026 financial year to come in broadly in line with last year’s R16 billion, with an accompanying lift in its cash position.
Marokane said ongoing financial stability remains critical to sustaining investment in maintenance, emissions reduction and the reinforcement of the country’s grid as South Africa works to secure long term reliability of supply and a more resilient energy transition.
