Samruk-Energy, Kazakhstan's national energy company, posted record capital expenditure alongside rapidly growing debt and stable revenue in 2025, reports infohub.kz.
The company's assets grew 29% to 1.8 trillion tenge, placing it among the top five portfolio companies of the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, overtaking Kazakhtelecom. Long-term assets increased 21% to 1.4 trillion tenge, with fixed assets rising 36% to 1.3 trillion tenge, driven by an almost threefold increase in construction in progress to 502 billion tenge (39% of fixed assets). The company invested in building the new Almaty CHP-2 and CHP-3, which are expected to become operational in 2026.
The ratio of capital expenditure to revenue peaked at 51%, up from 31% a year earlier. Meanwhile, advances to contractors for long-term assets fell 13% to 129 billion tenge due to reduced prepayments for the Almaty CHP-2 modernization and the fuel supply system of EGRES-1. Also underway is a project to build a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant with a capacity of about 1,100 MW in the Kyzylorda region, in partnership with Qatar's Urbacon Concessions Investments.
Ahead are major investment projects: expansion of Ekibastuz GRES-2 (construction of unit No. 3, and preparation of design documentation for unit No. 4, each 550 MW) and construction of EGRES-3 based on clean coal technology (four units with a combined capacity of 2,640 MW). In October 2025, the tender for EGRES-3 was won by the consortium GCL & Integra Energy Ltd. (China-Kazakhstan). The company also sold its stake in the Bogatyr coal mine (50% via Forum Muider) — in September 2025 the stake was reduced to 35% by ceding 30% to Qatar's Primet LLC, and in December a contract was signed to sell the remaining stake by the end of 2026.
Current assets surged 67% to 397 billion tenge, driven by a 56% increase in accounts receivable to 117 billion tenge, including a 1.5-fold rise in debts from state enterprises (to 69 billion tenge) and a threefold increase from sister companies. Short-term securities (National Bank notes) grew from 18 billion to 43 billion tenge, and deposits from 11 billion to 25 billion tenge. VAT reclaimable tripled from 5 billion to 16 billion tenge. Already in 2026, the company allocated funds to finance subsidiaries: EGRES-2 received a 99 billion tenge loan (first tranche 24 billion tenge) for 20 years and another 8 billion tenge for one year, with an interest rate equal to the National Bank base rate plus 1%.
Equity rose 21% to 939 billion tenge, while liabilities increased 38% to 885 billion tenge. Long-term liabilities grew 52% to 611 billion tenge due to a 65% jump in borrowings to 477 billion tenge. Term bank loans doubled to 356 billion tenge, with the key lender being Halyk Bank, which provided 63 billion tenge for working capital and 64 billion tenge for investments at floating rates. The Development Bank of Kazakhstan extended 55 billion tenge (TONIA + 2.1% + 0.73%), the Asian Development Bank provided 56 billion tenge for the Almaty CHP-2 modernization (plus an old loan of 15 billion tenge). The Eurasian Development Bank lent 7 billion tenge for wind power generation in Ereymentau. Loans from the National Welfare Fund remained unchanged, while bond borrowings declined.
Current liabilities increased 15% to 274 billion tenge, driven by a 26% rise in short-term borrowings to 106 billion tenge, including a debt of 15 billion tenge owed to Bogatyr (a 2022 loan that was extended and is due to be repaid in 2026). Accounts payable grew 6% to 147 billion tenge, and tax arrears rose 22% to 11 billion tenge. The debt-to-equity ratio rose from 0.6 to 0.9.
Revenue increased 31% to 753 billion tenge. The electricity sales segment, which accounts for 71% of revenue, grew 19%. Capacity maintenance services brought in 67 billion tenge (+16%), and income from leasing the Bukhtarma hydropower plant (94 billion tenge) quadrupled thanks to a new contract with Kazzinc signed in February 2025. Tariff increases (the Ministry of Energy raised ceiling tariffs for its power generating facilities by 15–19%, and transmission and distribution tariffs in Almaty by 32%) contributed significantly to revenue growth, even as electricity output rose only 2%.
Cost of sales rose 31% to 487 billion tenge: fuel costs increased 32% to 139 billion tenge, and labor costs rose 38% to 95 billion tenge. Net profit grew 40% to 158 billion tenge — a record high. EBITDA reached 305 billion tenge (+30%), with an EBITDA margin of 52% (+4 percentage points). ROA and ROS improved by 1 percentage point each to 9% and 21%, respectively, while ROE rose 2 percentage points to 17%.
Cash flow from operations rose only 17% to 198 billion tenge, insufficient to cover the net investment outflow of 404 billion tenge. Borrowing provided 201 billion tenge, but the net cash flow was negative, with cash decreasing by 6 billion tenge at year-end.
Interaction with the National Welfare Fund: Samruk-Energy purchased short-term bonds of the fund (6 billion tenge in 2025) and paid 21 billion tenge in dividends (down from 25 billion tenge a year earlier). The fund recapitalized Samruk-Energy with 32 billion tenge (25 billion for the Kokshetau CHP plant and 7 billion for Almaty CHP-3), and an additional 45 billion tenge in January 2026. The company's debt to the fund stood at 91 billion tenge.
Fitch affirmed the company's credit rating at BB+ with a stable outlook. However, the avalanche-like growth of liabilities could worsen debt metrics and increase interest rate and currency risks. In Samruk-Energy's favor is the government's revised approach to low-carbon development and support for coal-fired generation projects.