The state-owned CFE increased its revenues by 12.5% last year, to 565,687 million pesos, derived from a significant growth in its number of users, according to information provided by the company to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV).
But the increase in users brought with it a significant increase in its sales costs. The state-owned company saw a 15% rise in this item, registering 539,945 million pesos, from 469,381 a year earlier.
This deepened the losses of the national company. It closed 2021 with a negative balance of 95,371 million pesos, an increase of 11% -equivalent to 9,375 million pesos- compared to a year earlier.
The company says that it saw an increase in users “by approximately one million”, but it does not detail whether these are domestic or industrial clients, nor does it give more details about the makeup of its portfolio.
Last year, its sales totaled 502,858 million pesos. But 2020 was an atypical year and CFE, like some other energy sales companies, saw a significant drop in revenue due to the decrease in demand for hydrocarbons and electricity.
The increase in the income of the state company in 2021 could also be due to a natural recovery after the height of the pandemic.
The company, which could benefit from the probable approval of a reform in the sector, had lost a large number of industrial clients due to private participation, through figures such as self-supply. Industry analysts agree that this significant drop in users – which has lasted more than two decades – is one of the compelling reasons behind the presidential initiative, which is currently being discussed.
