Eskom recorded a pretax profit of R23.9 billion for the year ended March 2025, a sharp turnaround from the R25.5 billion loss in 2024.
The days of Eskom receiving further bailouts from the government are over.
This is according to Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa speaking at the announcement of the power utility’s annual financial results for the financial year 2025 (FY2025) at MegaWatt Park on Tuesday.
Profitability
Eskom recorded a pretax profit of R23.9 billion for the year ended March 2025, which is a sharp turnaround from the R25.5 billion loss in 2024.
The state-owned entity, which marked its first return to profitability since 2017, follows the government’s R254 billion debt relief package allocated to Eskom over three years, with the current financial year, 2025, being the final one.
By March 2025, Eskom received a total of R140 billion in support since the implementation of the Eskom Debt Relief Act of 2023.
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No more bailouts
Eskom’s load shedding strangled the country’s economic growth for more than a decade and its repeated bailouts drained the state’s coffers.
However, Ramokgopa said that Eskom will not receive any further bailouts from the state.
“Eskom is not the only player on the generation side. So that level of dominance is gone. Eskom must resign itself to a new dispensation and see how it survives under these new conditions.
“The state is going to allocate capital to other areas of spending pressure, so Eskom will not be getting any bailouts going forward,” Ramokgopa said.
Municipal debt
Municipal debt, however, remains the biggest threat to Eskom’s future.
Municipal arrear debt stood at R94.6 billion as of 31 March 2025 – a 27% increase from the previous year (2024: R74.4 billion).
Eskom said that despite the implementation of the National Treasury’s municipal debt relief programme, the debt growth has not slowed.
“Most participating municipalities are failing to meet the basic requirement of paying their current accounts on time and in full. This situation poses a serious risk to the viability of Eskom’s standalone Distribution company and threatens progress in the broader legal separation process.”
Meanwhile, Ramokgopa said the current Eskom board’s term has been extended to 30 November 2025 and that an announcement on a new board would be made this month.
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