PIC told to ensure Eskom viability before taking equity

Tue, 11 Aug 2020

PIC told to ensure Eskom viability before taking equity

News24
12 Jul 2020, 20:40 GMT+10

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Africa's biggest fund manager, must ensure that state-owned power utility Eskom will operate profitably before its R92 billion debt pile is converted to equity, said Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo.

The plan proposed by workers' unions that the PIC convert its debt into equity to help ease the power utility's debt burden "has the potential to work", Masondo said. While Eskom has been able to pay interest on the debt, the power utility would need to generate sufficient revenue and profits to pay dividends, Masondo said.

"The PIC must ensure that the expected dividend earnings will be reasonably higher than the current interest earned on their loans," Masondo told the City Press newspaper. "Eskom must meet certain conditions if converting PIC debt to equity is to be successful and sustainable."

Eskom, which supplies almost all of South Africa's power, has about R450 billion in debt and its revenue doesn't match service costs. A proposal that the fund manager, which manages over R2 trillion, take a stake in the utility, was submitted to Treasury this year, the PIC chair Reuel Khoza said in June.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Israel Herald.

More Information

22 ℃

Fair in Amman

International

Section

Chinese government says it has never interfered in U.S. elections

People vote at a polling site in Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, June 23, 2020. (Photo by ...

Prominent Hong Kong media figure Jimmy Lai and two sons arrested

HONG KONG, Aug 10 (ANI): Continuing with the suppression of the dissenting voices in Hong Kong since the national security ...

Lebanese government rejects need for external investigation of blast

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The leader of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah has made a televised address to the nation calling ...

Trump thinks 'it would be cool' to invade Venezuela

On Tuesday of this week, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Venezuela. Appearing before the committee ...

11 arrests in Virginia and Maryland over shocking sexual exploitation

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia Eleven members or close associates of the infamous MS-13 gang were arrested this week and face numerous charges ...

Desktop review of Melissa Davey's new book on the Pell case

Melissa Davey just a few days ago brought out her book on The Case of George Pell. Davey has followed ...

Business

Section

Auto sales in Ireland dropped 18% last month

DUBLIN, Ireland Aug. 10 (Xinhua) - A total of 15,329 units of new private cars were sold in Ireland in ...

Stocks rise in China, Australia; fall in Japan, Hong Kong

SYDNEY, NSW Australia - Stocks in China and Australia were on the move on Monday.In China, stocks rose after data ...

News Corp shrugs off Covid-19 impact, only 4% negative impact

NEW YORK, New York - News Corp on Saturday reported fiscal 2020 full year total revenues of $9.01 billion. The ...

Despite job gains too many Americans still out of work, says official

WASHINGTON, DC - Total nonfarm payroll employment in the United States rose by 1.8 million in July, and the unemployment ...

Kroenke Sports Entertainment partners with global sportsbook operator

PointsBet, a global sportsbook operator, and Kroenke Sports Entertainment, LLC announced Friday an entrance into a new, multi-year partnership. The ...

Switch revenue jumps 13% in second quarter

Switch is the latest data centre operator to post strong financial results as the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to fail ...

Movie Review

The Hunt for Red October (4K UHD)

Hunt for Red October