Umeme shareholder earnings grow by Shs59.2
A worker of Umeme inspects an electricity facility in Kampala in December last year. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- The customer base increased by 9 percent to 1.6 million of which 99 percent comprise domestic customers that are on prepayment metering systems.
Shareholders earnings per share in the Umeme stock increased to Shs85.7 from Shs26.5 registered in the period ended December 2020.
The increase, according to Umeme, means that earnings of shareholders rose by Shs59.2 just within a year.
According to details of its financial performance released early this week, Umeme said shareholders would be paid a final dividend of Shs54.1 per share for the year ended December 2021 compared to Shs12.2 for the same period in 2020.
“Subject to deduction of Withholding Tax where applicable, shareholders registered in the books of the company at close of business June 24, 2022, if approved, outstanding dividend will be paid on or about July 22, 2022,” Umeme said.
Umeme is expected to pay out Shs19.8b for the period ended December 2021.
During the period, Umeme said it had registered growth in profits, increasing by 96b with profit after tax increasing to Shs139.1b from Shs43b in 2020.
Umeme also noted that outstanding interest-bearing debt had reduced to Shs336.6b in 2021 from Shs517.1m in 2020 following debt repayments of Shs170.9b during 2020.
During the period, the company generated Shs295.1b compared to Shs277.1b in 2020 from operating activities.
Revenue collections of billed electricity, which is fundamental for sustainable electricity supply, stood at 99.1 percent with pre-paid sales contributing 30 percent of collected revenues.
However, during the period, Umeme’s total assets dropped to Shs2.5b trillion down from Shs2.6 trillion in 2020.
During the period, Umeme noted at least 129,511 new customers were connected on the grid, which was higher than the 57,000 connected in 2020.
The increased connections were delivered through customer self funding and the free connections programme of government, which seeks to increase electricity consumption.
Out of the 129,511 new connections 1,410 were in the commercial and medium industry categories while 45 were large industries.
The customer base increased by 9 percent to 1.6 million of which 99 percent comprise domestic customers that are on prepayment metering systems.
Investment
During the period, Umeme invested Shs122.5b, completing projects such as the conversion of 28,000 post-paid customers to the Yaka prepaid system that seek to improve supply reliability, grow demand, public safety, reduction of energy losses and improving efficiency.
