Electricity pylons are seen in front of the cooling towers at the Lethabo Thermal Power Station,an Eskom coal-burning power station near Sasolburg in the northern Free State province, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Home » South Africa’s Eskom Offers Investors Up to $1.5 Billion of 10-Year Bonds: Source

South Africa’s Eskom Offers Investors Up to $1.5 Billion of 10-Year Bonds: Source

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s struggling state-owned power firm Eskom offered investors up to $1.5 billion of 10-year bonds on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Separately, Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said Eskom was planning a foreign bond sale and that the firm’s chief executive and treasury team were currently on a […]

By Reuters
02-08-18 11:27
in Business
Electricity pylons are seen in front of the cooling towers at the Lethabo Thermal Power Station,an Eskom coal-burning power station near Sasolburg in the northern Free State province, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s struggling state-owned power firm Eskom offered investors up to $1.5 billion of 10-year bonds on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Electricity pylons are seen in front of the cooling towers at the Lethabo Thermal Power Station,an Eskom coal-burning power station near Sasolburg in the northern Free State province, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Separately, Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said Eskom was planning a foreign bond sale and that the firm’s chief executive and treasury team were currently on a road show overseas meeting with investors.

South Africa has been hit by load shedding (power cuts) this week, after workers demanding higher wages have been protesting.

Africa’s most industrialised economy was hit by controlled power cuts on Tuesday – for the second time in less than two months – after some units went down at Eskom power plants due to a wildcat strike and low coal levels.

The lingering threat of power cuts underlines the fragility of the company, which supplies around 90% of South Africa’s power, at a time when President Cyril Ramaphosa has made reforming cash-strapped state firms a priority. (Yesterday he transferred the responsibility of South African Airways to Pravin Gordhan.)

In 2015, the last time recurring rolling blackouts occurred, South Africa’s economic output suffered.

Last week, Eskom said it was considering cutting staff and selling assets after posting a $171 million loss in the latest full financial year.

(Reporting by Patricia Aruo and Alexander Winning; Editing by Alexander Winning, James Macharia, Dale Hudson and Jenni Baxter)