KARACHI:K-Electric (KE) held its 107th Annual General Meeting (AGM) – FY 2017, at a local hotel in Karachi. The meeting was chaired by Ikram Sehgal, Chairman KE Board, in the presence of Moonis Alvi, CEO; Aamir Ghaziani, CFO; Rizwan Dalia, Company Secretary and CPO and other members of the Board and KE leadership.
A review of KE’s performance indicators reflected continuous operational improvement driven by investments across the value chain. It is pertinent to note that T and D losses dropped from 22.2% in FY 16 to 21.7% in FY 17, and have come down more than 14% since 2009, whereas overall fleet efficiency rose from 30% in 2009 to 37% in the year under review.
In its financial results issued to the PSX, KE declared profit of PKR 10.42 billion compared to PKR 31.81 billion during FY 2016 resulting in a fall in earnings per share (EPS) from PKR 1.15 to PKR 0.38 rupees per share in FY17. While key operational indicators showed sustained progress during FY17, KE’s net profit dropped around 67% as compared to FY16, mainly due to significant reduction in tariff level along with change in tariff structure under the new Multi Year Tariff (MYT) for the control period July 01, 2016 to June 30, 2023.
During the AGM, the management of KE apprised shareholders about the power utility’s business plan in view of growing power demand and to strengthen the city’s power infrastructure including the development of 900MW Bin Qasim Power Station III, 700MW coal-fired power project as well as US$ 460 million Transmission Enhancement Plan.
In addition, significant reduction in losses has been achieved as a result of installation of theft-resistant Aerial Bundled Cables (ABC) at over 7,500 PMTs along with ongoing anti-theft campaigns. The power utility is also working to diversify its fuel mix towards clean energy and will add another 50 MW of renewable energy to the system by the end of this year. The continuous stream of investment from KE has further strengthened the power infrastructure and reinforced its long-term commitment to serve the people of Karachi.
On this occasion, shareholders approved KE’s financial statements and endorsed the decision to reinvest its profit, in line with the power utility’s plans to continue to grow its generation capacity and upgrade its transmission and distribution system. Over PKR 25 billion has been invested in generation, transmission and distribution during the reporting period. KE’s practice of reinvesting its profits into the business has resulted in improvement in supply and quality of service, as a result of which, 70% of the city, including all industrial zones, is now load-shed free.
Concluding the meeting, the management assured shareholders of its commitment to move forward with planned investments enabling the company to serve the city better in an environmentally sustainable and economically viable manner, and in doing so, support the economic growth of Pakistan.