Eskom posted a profit of more than R16bn compared to a loss of R55bn in its previous financial year. Picture: iStock The ninth year of collating the profits and losses of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) delivered a welcome surprise in that the aggregate results showed a profit. Unfortunately, there are significant caveats about the positive results – and serious questions about a few of the major companies.
That the SOEs collectively posted a profit of R58 billion for the year to March 2025 is a welcome change. In the previous year, the total loss exceeded R16 billion – and in both 2020 and 2021 it peaked at more than R38 billion. However, most of the improvement came from just a few of the big state companies posting improved results compared to the previous year.
The bulk of the recovery in the overall figure came from the turnarounds at Eskom and Transnet, even if Transnet is still running at a huge loss. Eskom posted a profit of a shade more than R16 billion in the year to end March 2025 compared to a massive loss of R55 billion in the previous financial year. Interventions at Transnet cut the loss there from R7.3 billion to less than R2 billion.
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Profit at Telkom surged from R1.9 billion to nearly R7.5 billion, while the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority recovered from a loss of R1.1 billion to post a profit of nearly R1.4 `11`billion. Sasria grew its profit by R1 billion, while Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) also improved. But serious problems remain.
The worst SOEs are still South African Airways (SAA), Denel and PetroSA – none of which have published audited financial statements for years. SAA published four years’ worth of delayed financial statements when it exited business rescue in 2021 and management disclosed figures for the year to end March 2024, but audited financial statements are not publicly available for scrutiny. The airline reported that it made a small profit in the year to end March 2023. This proved to be inaccurate and it was apparently revised to a loss of R354 million, according media reports quoting management.
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