Eskom to pay Nedbank R900m in interest before month end

Eskom is due to pay over R900m in interest to Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking before the end of the month, it said in a notice on Wednesday evening.

The interest payment notification, posted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange News Service (SENS), relates to bond ES23 and covers the interest period January 25 to July 24, 2019.

The interest for the six months in question amounts to R911 584 597.55. It is due to be paid on July 25.

Eskom, whose group treasurer Andre Pillay resigned earlier this month, has debt approaching R500bn. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that the ailing power utility would get a R69bn cash injection over the next three years.

Bloomberg reported in June that although Eskom is not generating enough cash to service its debt, bondholders have received a 22.3% return on the state-owned company’s 2028 dollar securities, which is almost three times the average for developing nation hard-currency bonds, according to Bloomberg Barclays indexes.

Nearly three-quarters of Eskom’s bonds are government guaranteed.

* This article’s headline previously erroneously stated that Eskom was to pay R9m. It was amended at 12.53pm on Thursday.