Bloomberg News reports that Netcare, SA’s largest private health care network, expects diesel costs to more than quadruple to R165m this year as it runs generators to help contain the impact of rolling blackouts.
Generator diesel costs increased to R67m in the six months through March from R10m a year earlier because of the consistently high number of power cuts and increased fuel costs, the company reported on Monday. It is among a growing number of businesses forced to rely on alternative sources of electricity as Eskom implements daily blackouts. Astral Foods, one of South Africa’s biggest chicken producers by revenue, skipped paying an interim dividend as profit dropped by 89% because of power cuts. Load-shedding cost the group R741m in the first half of the year. That was due to increased spending on feed as it had to sustain birds for longer because outages delayed slaughtering, as well as the cost of diesel, wages and overtime. For the second half of the year, Astral forecasts spending about R45m a month on diesel and all capital expenditure has been placed on hold. Food services franchiser Famous Brands will take a lower royalty and marketing percentage on sales generated by its franchise partners during load-shedding hours to help support the businesses. “We remain concerned about South Africa’s weak economic prospects and expected high levels of load-shedding. This will continue to strain consumers and the small business sector,” Famous Brands said. Pharmacy chain Dis-Chem Pharmacies spent R90.7m on diesel to run generators and keep its stores open in the year through March.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Rene Vollgraaff, Antony Sguazzin & Adelaide Changole at TimesLIVE Premium
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