Eskom Group CEO Brian Molefe presented a positive outlook on the financial standing of the South African public utility, in a stakeholder briefing on Tuesday.

Presenting the group interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2015, Molefe indicated that Eskom’s net profit for the period increased by 22% to R11.3 billion.

The utility, which was reportedly facing bankruptcy earlier this year, managed to secure R46 billion of the R55 billion funding for 2015 which improved its liquidity position.  It further bolstered financial recovery by converting a R60 million government loan to equity.

South Africans have seen the benefit of Eskom’s improving financial status as there has been only 2 hours and 20 minutes of load shedding over the last 107 days, since 8 August 2015.

How Eskom turned the financial corner

The power utility has actively been working to turn things around. There has been an increase in planned maintenance and generation thanks to the implementation of the Tetris maintenance planning tool.

As a result of the planned maintenance plant availability has improved to 74.4% as of 16 November 2015 and system stability has improved since August this year.

Eskom is also actively managing its debt with municipalities through payment agreements signed with 50 defaulting municipalities, which include 15 of the top 20.

According to the utility’s results approximately 52% of the amount outstanding from municipalities is within the due date handling the issue of arrears and debt with municipalities.