Umeme Managing Director, Selestino Babungi, speaks at the March 2021 launch of MyUmeme Online- an electronic portal that allows self-funding customers to apply for power online and get connected, usually in 3 days. The power distributor, while releasing their HY2021 results said it was committing USD30 million (out of which USD14 million has already been invested), to increased system reliability and efficiencies, as well as ramping up new connections. Power distributor Umeme has released its HY 2021 results, reporting positive customer growth and increased energy demand as well as a profit boost.
In results released on 23rd August 2021, Umeme announced that as a result of sustained investments in increased reliability as well as making new connections especially in the industrial and commercial categories, overall electricity sales for the six months to 30 June 2021 had grown by 11.8% to 1,720 GWh up from 1,538 GWh in the same period in 2020.
“The growth during the period was driven by increased industrial demand at 13% from new and existing customers, commercial demand at 13% and domestic customers at 5%,” Umeme said in a published media statement. It also said that following government relaxation on the Electricity Connections Policy (ECP), allowing self-funding customers to be connected as well as a March 2021 decision to resume paying for free connections, Umeme was able to connect 40,626 new customers, out of whom, 98 and 751 were industrial and commercial customers respectively.
“On receipt of connection materials in June 2021 from the Government under the free connections program to connect 87,500 customers out of the backlog of 210,000, we resumed the implementation of the program and have connected 8,907 of the free connections to date,” Umeme said in a media statement accompanying the release of the HY 2021 results.
“In addition, we have added 31,722 customer-funded connections, bringing the total for the period to 40,629. We aim to clear the 87,500 connections by November 2021 as the Government mobilizes additional financing for the rest of the backlog,” Umeme’s statement added.
Increased energy sales drove a 9.3% to Shs 928 billion from Shs 849 billion, resulting into gross profit increasing by 28.7% to Shs 299 billion compared to Shs 232 billion in the same period in 2020.
The above fundamentals, coupled with increased efficiencies, drove net profit to more than double to Shs 48.2 billion from Shs 21.8 billion in June 2020.
Umeme’s customer base now stands at 1,530,733 of which […]
