Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric reports 2022 profit of 9.2 bln meticais, a 9% decline – Lusa

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Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric reports 2022 profit of 9.2 bln meticais, a 9% decline – Lusa

9:19 CAT | 26 Apr 2023

File photo: Lusa

The Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Plant (HCB) in Mozambique, the largest in southern Africa, announced on Monday (April 24) that it had closed 2022 with a profit of 9.2 billion meticais ( around US$144 million/ €131 million), a decrease of 9% compared to 2021, Lusa reports

The numbers were published by HCB in Notícias, Mozambique’s largest-circulation newspaper, and, despite the fall in relation to the previous year’s profits, the administration has professed itself satisfied with the results.

In a message accompanying the figures, chairman of the board of directors Boavida Lopes Muhambe observes that the results “demonstrate that the financial and operating performance indicators continue to present the expected robustness”.

The result includes a 6% decline in sales, from almost 29 billion meticais to 27.1 billion meticais (from €413 to €386 million), and earnings per share dropped from 380 to 350 meticais.

The message from the president of HCB highlights that “about 2.7 billion meticais (€38 million) were channelled to the State in the form of concession fees approximately 5.1 billion meticais (€73 million) in the form of taxes, and more than 3.7 billion meticais (€52 million) in dividends were paid to holders of class A and class B shares, amounts above the percentage recommended by the company’s statutes”.

The Mozambican state owns 85% of HCB, the Portuguese company Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) owns 7.5%, 4% of the share capital is publicly traded and HCB has 3.5% of its own shares.

The hydroelectric plant is undergoing a modernization process which implies “a momentary reduction in production rates with impacts on billing”, Muhambe noted.

“However, compliance with energy supply contracts with customers EDM (Mozambique’s state-owned power supply company), Eskom (South Africa’s state-owned power supply company) and ZESA (Zimbabwe’s state-owned power supply company) will be ensured,” he added.

HCB’s chairman highlighted the gains that will come from the investments underway, which will extend the venture’s useful life by 25 years and increase production capacity (currently 2,075 MW) by five percent.

In 2022, HCB obtained the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the French Development Agency (AFD), gaining access to financing of up to €225 million, in a strategy in which “priority will be given to the equity capital that the company has at its disposal”.

Source: Lusa