Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has posted more than a five-percent increase in net profits to SAR 15.13 billion ($4 billion) for 2022, driven by a growth in operating revenue from high electricity demand.
The company, which is the Middle East’s biggest utility company, said in a Tadawul filing that its revenue increased by nearly four percent to SAR 72 billion in 2022.
The SEC said the increase in the net profit was also due to an increase in the balancing account amounts compared to the prior year, higher additional income from non-recurring items and higher income from equity-accounted investees due to the change in classification of the company’s interest in independent power producer companies from joint operations to joint ventures.
It added that higher operating revenue and other income were partially offset by higher purchased power costs and fuel costs, which were mainly driven by growth in demand for electric power.
The company said its total shareholders’ equity increased by 2.2 percent to SAR 257.1 billion, from SAR 251.6 billion in 2021.
In another Tadawul filing, the company announced a cash dividend of SAR 2.91 billion ($774 million) for 2022. The date of distribution of the dividend will be announced separately.
