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Ugandan multimillionaire businessman Patrick Bitature has been re-elected as chairman of the board of the country’s largest energy distributor, Umeme Ltd.
Bitature has been on the board since November 2007.
According to a PML Daily, Bitature thanked the shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting for their continued trust and confidence in him to lead the board.
He reassured them that Umeme is committed to playing its part in driving energy distribution efficiencies in Uganda, and it will continue to make key investments to increase energy generation capacity in order to create more value for shareholders.
For instance, in line with the company’s objectives to drive supply reliability and operational efficiencies through improved network distribution capacity, Umeme managed to complete a Ushs 279-billion ($75 million) capital investment program.
Shareholders await reduced $5.4-million dividend, down from $18 million
Bitature also declared a final dividend of Ushs 19.8 billion ($5.4 million) payable to the company’s shareholders. The dividend is significantly lower than the Ushs 67.1-billion ($18 million) dividend that Umeme declared payable to shareholders in 2020.
Bitature is the majority shareholder in the company and Uganda’s second wealthiest man, behind real estate magnate Sudhir Ruparelia.
According to the company’s annual report for 2021, Bitature owns a 0.12-percent stake in Umeme, or a total of about 2.01 million shares.
Umeme’s profits plunge by about 69 percent in 2020
Umeme is Uganda’s largest energy distributor, distributing 97 percent of the country’s electricity. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, the company was able to connect 59,623 customers to its energy grid in 2020, with 97 percent of the newly enrolled customers using prepaid metering, contributing 30 percent of the company’s revenues.
Umeme’s revenues dropped by about 7 percent in 2020 to UShs 1661 billion ($446 million) compared to Ushs 1,777 billion ($479 million) in 2019. The drop in revenue is attributed to reduced electricity demand from high-margin commercial and industrial customers.
Umeme’s earnings power was also pressured by increased sales costs as bulk supply tariffs rose 9 percent. Cost of operations also increased by six percent due to COVID-19-related costs and network maintenance costs.
Consequently, profits after tax decreased by about 69 percent in 2020.
