Kenya Power net profit drops to $191M on strong shilling

• Kenya Power attributes profit dip to lower tariff yields and the impact of a strong Kenyan Shilling against major currencies during the period.
• The Board of Directors has recommended the payment of a final dividend of KES0.80 per share.
• At the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya Power has been on a strong run this year, gaining by up to 222% year to date and closing last week at KES15.50.

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has experienced an 18 per cent decrease in net profit to $191.49 million (KES24.74 billion) for the trading year ending June 30, 2025 attributable to reduced tariff yields and the impact of a strong Kenyan Shilling against the U.S. Dollar during the period.

During the year, a strong Kenyan shilling triggered a double-edged effect, cutting electricity purchase costs by KES5.94 billion essentially because most agreements are USD-based. However, lower forex recoveries during the year when the Kenyan Shilling held steady against the greenback reduced revenue by KES11.84 billion.

In an update to the markets late on Monday, the utility however lauded the performance crediting its strong results to operational efficiency, cost management, and reduced finance costs, factors which saw the firm contain lower forex gains and sales.

Kenya Power profitability hit by reduced forex recoveries

“Operating expenses decreased by KES3.86 billion, mainly due to lower expected credit losses (ECL) provisioning under the IFRS 9 model,” KPLC highlighted in their statement, adding: “This decline [revenue] was mainly due to reduced foreign exchange recoveries following the sustained stability of the Kenya Shilling and the application of a lower base tariff aligned to the approved tariff reduction path.”

The Board of Directors has recommended the payment of a final dividend of KES0.80 per share, which will be in addition to KES0.20 interim dividend that was settled during the period under focus, taking the total payment to KES1 per ordinary share.

“If approved by shareholders, the dividend will be paid on or about 30 January 2026,” for shareholders who will be on record as of December 2, 2025. The utility’s board added that the increased dividend earnings this year reflect the company’s strong performance and its commitment to enhancing shareholder value.

At the Nairobi bourse, Kenya Power has been on a strong run this year, gaining by up to 222 per cent year to date and closing last week at KES15.50. Overall, the stock has delivered over 1,000 per cent in gains to shareholders since early last year.

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𝐊enya Power K𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

• Electricity revenue: KES219.28 Billion (down by KES11.84Bn from KES231.12Bn in June 2024).
• Cost of Sales: KES144.7B (down 3.9 per cent)
• Cash & Cash Equivalents balance: (down 26 percent to KES7.7Bn)
• Profit after tac: KES24.7Bn (down from KES30.7Bn)
• Profit before tax: KES35.38Bn (down from KES43.67Bn).
• Loan book contracted 11 per cent to KES87.64Bn.
• Equity increased by 25.2% to KES109.34Bn.
• Final dividend: KES0.80 per share (payable January 30, 2026, pending approval by shareholders).

“With these results, KES25 billion for KPLC is inevitable,” the statement noted, signalling confidence in the Nairobi Security Exchange listed company’s profitability in the future.

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Finance costs

During the 12-month period, finance costs increased to KES4.72 billion by June 30 compared to KES683 million on June 2023 attributable to “the reversal of unrealized forex gains. Specifically, exchange gains on loan revaluations of KES7.89 billion recorded in the prior year reversed to an exchange loss of KES784 million in the year under review, reflecting the impact of a strong currency.”

What’s more, Kenya Power noted that customers bought a total of 787GWh of electricity, being an increase from prior year due to increased demand, the deployment of more efficient power transmission that hit 78.79 per cent from 76.84 per cent in 2024, a factor that is attributable to the ongoing push to upgrade the firm’s grid systems. Loss reduction measures deployed during the period, paid dividend too.

As a result, “new peak demand levels were achieved during the period, highlighting network resilience, although temporary supply constraints led to isolated load shedding during peak hours,” the firm said.

(NB: 1USD = about KES130)