Umeme wrote down Shs432.9bn in assets, an increase of Shs272.9bn from the previous year, to reflect the shorter remaining life of its power distribution concession, resulting in a sharp fall in profits.

Uganda’s largest electricity distributor said a Shs432.9bn writedown on the value of its service concession contract and impairments of Shs9.3bn resulted in a full-year profit of Shs11.5bn, down from Shs148bn in the same period in 2022.

The company’s 20-year distribution concession expires in March 2025. Umeme said its key priorities for the remaining period are to “ensure continuity of service to our customers, business performance, and investment in the distribution system while ensuring a seamless asset retransfer to government as per the concession agreement terms.”

The company’s share price opened at Shs400 Monday. It’s been at this level since the beginning of the year, and was unaffected by a profit warning on 17 January. Umeme said it would pay a dividend of Shs54.2 per ordinary share for the year.

Revenue grew at the fastest rate in four years, mainly due to an increase in electricity sales. Electricity sales rose by 14.2 per cent, the fastest in more than a decade, driven by demand from large industrial and domestic consumers. Electricity demand increased by 9.6 per cent, partly due to a 10.9 per cent increase in new connections and improved electricity supply. Since 2020, electricity sales have increased by 31.8 per cent, Umeme said.

The company said it connected 191,874 new customers to the grid — most of them subsidised by government funds and French aid — up from 121,132 in 2022, bringing the total number of customers to 1.95 million. It also began implementing a World Bank-funded connection programme that aims to add one million new customers over the next three years.