Eskom Posts First Profit in Eight Years, Seeks to Raise Debt

Africa’s biggest power utility reported its first full-year profit in eight years, even as it grapples with ballooning debts owed by South African cities and is preparing to go to the bond markets without government help within two years.

State-owned Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. made 16 billion rand ($926 million) in profit after tax in the year ended March 31, compared with a loss of 55 billion rand a year earlier, it said Tuesday. Auditors Deloitte and Touche issued a qualified opinion on the results, with a material uncertainty relating to the utility’s status as a going concern.