South Africa: More bad news for Eskom as profits tumble

Eskom has reported a 24% fall in H1 profit, to R9.3bn ($863m) from R12.2bn in 2013. Announcing figures for the six months to 30 September, Eskom said full-year profits were expected to decline to R500m. “This is because, traditionally, revenue in winter is much higher than during summer due to time-of-use tariffs to key industrial customers, and there is less maintenance performed on Eskom power plants, which contributes to the profitability of the first half of the year. Tariffs are lower in summer and maintenance activities increase, resulting in higher costs,” the company said in a 25 November announcement.