Today, the Saudi Electricity Company announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023, as it recorded operating revenues of 13.4 billion Saudi riyals, compared to 13.5 billion Saudi riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, a decrease of 1%, while the total profit amounted to 1.8 billion Saudi riyals compared to 2.6 billion Saudi riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, a decrease of 33%, and an operating profit of 1.7 billion Saudi riyals, compared to 2.2 billion Saudi riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, a decrease of 22%. The net profit amounted to 480 million Saudi riyals compared to 1,517 million Saudi riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, i.e. a decrease of 68%, and the adjusted net income (net income attributable to ordinary shares, after deducting dividends from the speculative instrument in the amount of 1,889 billion Saudi riyals) for the first quarter of 2023 amounted to a loss of 1,409 million Saudi riyals, compared to A loss of 372 million Saudi riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, and accordingly, the basic and diluted loss per share amounted to 0.34 riyals for the current period, compared to a loss of 0.09 riyals per share for the same period of the previous year. The total property rights at the end of the first quarter (2023) amounted to 257.5 billion Saudi riyals, compared to 253.7 billion Saudi riyals at the end of the same period of the previous year, which represents a growth rate of 1.5%.
The “Saudi Electricity” attributed the change in net profit for the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, mainly to the decrease in the quantities of electrical energy sold and the change in its mix due to the reclassification of some large subscribers from the government sector to the commercial sector, and the increase in operating and maintenance costs, which is due Mainly due to the company’s preparations for intensive maintenance and operation programs in preparation for the growth of loads during the summer season, in addition to the increase in financing burdens. Consumers of electricity and other receivables.
Saudi Electricity explained that the change in the costs of purchased energy and fuel compared to the same period of the previous year was the result of the company’s implementation of the energy transfer agreements, the bulk supply agreement, and the transfer of fuel supply agreements from the Saudi Electricity Company to the Saudi Energy Purchase Company (the main buyer) wholly owned by the state, as of 1 7/2022, as part of the overall reforms in the electricity sector to raise efficiency and improve service.
The company also indicated that according to the bulk supply agreement, according to which Saudi Electricity buys energy from the main buyer for redistribution and sale to electricity consumers in the Kingdom under the distribution and retail license, the bulk supply tariff is lower during the winter season (from January to April and from October to December) and higher During the summer season (from May to September), and this leads to varying tariffs for energy purchased during the fiscal year, and on the contrary, the tariff under which electricity is sold to consumers in addition to that the return from energy transfer agreements does not vary seasonally, and for the costs of energy purchased to be in line with Revenue, the costs of energy purchased are calculated according to the average bulk supply tariff, which is calculated on an annual basis.
The first quarter of 2023 witnessed continued growth in the subscriber base by 3.3%, and the company completed the delivery of electrical service to about 91 thousand new subscribers, bringing the number of subscribers to about 11 million subscribers. During the first quarter of 2023, the company was able to keep pace with the necessary expansion in the lengths of the electrical network, as the lengths of distribution networks and optical fibers grew at an annual rate of 6% and 2.3% to reach more than 791.5 thousand km. Circular and 85,000 km, respectively, and the transmission network lengths were stable at 93,000 km.
At the beginning of April 2023, the Saudi Electricity announced that it had completed issuing sukuk divided into two tranches (green and regular) with a total value of $2 billion within its international sukuk program, where a green sukuk tranche of $1.2 billion was issued with a maturity of 10 years, and the regular sukuk tranche amounted to 0.8 billion. Dollars with a maturity of 30 years. The issuance of sukuk met with strong demand from international investors and the coverage ratio reached more than 7.7 times, as the volume of the request amounted to $ 15.4 billion, which is the highest order book for an issuer from the Middle East in more than a year.
