KARACHI: The Board of Directors of K-Electric (KE) in its meeting held on Tuesday, approved the financial results for the company for the year ended June 30, 2024.
Pakistan’s economy in fiscal year 2024 had remained largely subdued and economic activity showed modest improvement, with actual GDP growth of 2.51 percent while high inflation and policy rates remained a dominant challenge. These factors continued to define a challenging operating landscape in FY24, exerting sustained pressure on Pakistan’s power sector and consequently, the Company. Accordingly, operational challenges stemming from higher consumer tariffs and inflationary pressure impacted the achievement of regulatory benchmarks, which remain areas of focus for improvement.
Due to these challenges, AT&C loss increased by 1.8 percentage points, reflecting the lingering impact of earlier economic disruptions. As a result, KE reported unconsolidated profit after tax of Rs 4.13 billion, which translates into 3.56 percent return on equity and 0.87 percent return on property, plant, and equipment (PPE). Looking ahead, KE remains committed to strengthening operational performance and pursuing long-term investments across the value chain to create value for its stakeholders.
With the addition of 900 MW BQPS-III plant to the fleet, KE achieved a higher fleet gross efficiency of 49.5 percent (HHV) in August 2023 and managed to dispatch a maximum supply of 3,550 MW in FY24.
In addition, during FY24, transmission capacity was enhanced through the installation of new 40 MVA power transformers at Dhabeji-2, DHA-4, and Korangi East grids. With these additions and other enhancements, the transformation capacity of power transformers in the KE network reached 7,095 MVA by the end of FY 2024.
During FY24, significant progress was made in line with the Government of Pakistan’s directives to increase drawl from the National Grid and absorb the surplus capacity available in the system. Two major interconnection projects were successfully commissioned: the 500kV KKI (November 2024) and the 220kV Dhabeji-2 (March 2025) and post completion of works on K2/K3 to PQEPCL circuit by National Grid Company, KE’s drawl of power from the National grid was enhanced to around 2,000 MW from August 2025.
These interconnections represent a critical advancement in KE’s ability to access national energy resources, significantly increasing interconnection capacity and contributing to improved grid stability.
On the distribution front, a significant increase in consumer-end tariffs, combined with high inflationary pressures, materially impacted consumers’ paying propensity, resulting in a decline in the recovery ratio to 91.5 percent in FY24 compared to 92.8 percent reported during the corresponding period last year. To cater to increase operational pressure, network governance and anti-theft efforts were scaled up; over 350,000 kgs of illegal kundas were removed, and approximately 30,000 drives were conducted to curb power theft.
With ongoing efforts from policymakers to stabilise the economy, as evidenced by macroeconomic improvements in FY25, we are hopeful that improved macroeconomic factors will strengthen KE’s performance in the future. At the same time, KE’s network governance and anti-theft drives together with accelerated efforts to electrify additional areas through network extension and installation of 50,000 low-cost meters as well as year-round recovery camps will improve its performance.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
