[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

DAM-L Kenya hydropower reliance hit by drought

----- Forwarded message from Lori Pottinger -----

From owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net  Mon Oct 16 14:21:48 2000
Return-Path: <owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net>
Received: from DaVinci.NetVista.net (mjdomo@mail.netvista.net [206.170.46.10])
	by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id OAA15628
	for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Mon, 16 Oct 2000 14:20:49 -0400 (EDT)
Received: [by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) id e9GIHkb26618
	for irn-safrica-list; Mon, 16 Oct 2000 11:17:46 -0700 (PDT)
	(envelope-from owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net)]
Received: [from [192.168.1.215] ([205.178.127.217])
	by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) with SMTP id e9GIHgF26604
	for <irn-safrica@netvista.net>; Mon, 16 Oct 2000 11:17:42 -0700 (PDT)
	(envelope-from lori@irn.org)]
X-Sender: lori@pop3.netvista.net
Message-Id: <v02140b22b61103f050d0@[192.168.1.215]>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 11:19:57 -0800
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
Subject: Kenya power again/LS
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by DaVinci.NetVista.net id e9GIHhF26608
Sender: owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk

[Charset iso-8859-1 unsupported, filtering to ASCII...]
The ongoing saga of Kenya, which relies almost entirely on hydropower that
is now drought-crippled.

Kenya Power Blames Sh1.6 Billion Loss On Drought

The Nation (Nairobi)
October 16, 2000

Nation Reporter
Nairobi

Kenya Power and Lighting Company has blamed the drought for the Sh1.6
billion loss in this
year's trading results. The energy utility's managing director, Mr. Samuel
Gichuru said the loss
was due to the steeper power rationing regimen and expenses occasioned by
high bulk
purchase prices and fuel costs.

The loss was a marked departure from a profit of Sh1.3 billion that the
firm made in the year
to June 30, 1999.

As a result, the company will not pay a final dividend. Shareholders will
have to make do with
an interim take of two shillings per share paid out in May.

According to trading results published on Saturday, the company spent Sh7.5
billion on fuel
costs, compared to Sh3.1 billion in the previous trading period.

The energy firm was unable to meet a revenue projection of Sh27.9 billion
for the 12 months
to June 30, 2000, and had to contend with a significantly lower Sh23.5 billion.

However, this was at least 27 per cent higher than the Sh18.4 billion made
in the previous
year.

Mr. Gichuru says the higher revenue was as a result of recoveries on fuel
expenditure on
thermal generation and a tariff increase in August last year.

Expenditure, however rose by a whopping 68 per cent to Sh27 billion, pushed
by an increase
in the price of bulk units of electricity bought from KenGen and steep fuel
costs.

Mr. Gichuru says that the present punishing rationing schedule administered
by the firm would
be significantly reduced by the end of the month.

The firm has embarked on a restructuring process to cut costs.

Some reprieve is expected from generators that will be leased to three
companies (Aggrekko,
Cummins and Deutz) with the potential to supply a further 105 megawatts.
Other additional
supply is expected to add to the national grid, from independent producers
Iberafrica (12 MW)
and Or Power (4 MW).

The third most heavily capitalised firm at the Nairobi Stock Exchange at
Sh14 billion and
considered a traditional blue chip, the present power crunch presents the
biggest challenge to
the firm since its incorporation in 1922.

In its last deal this week, the firm's shares traded at Sh41 compared to
Sh192 that has been
its highest price in the last 12 months.


    Copyright _ 2000 The Nation

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@netvista.net
with no subject and the following text in the body of the message
"unsubscribe irn-safrica".

----- End of forwarded message from Lori Pottinger -----