Analysts say that short-term debt is especially important for companies since it increases the pressures they will face in their operations during the current year. Paying these liabilities reduces the resources that, in this case, the CFE may have for other types of expenses, such as investment.
In the case of the state company, this liability will become an extra element within an adverse scenario, determined especially by variations in the price of fuels, mainly natural gas – which in the last two years has registered record prices, but which have decreased in recent weeks.
The CFE adds three continuous years without profits. In its latest report, the company has said that ended 2022 with losses of 39,793 million pesos in a result that is largely explained by the high price that the company has had to pay for natural gas, the main fuel used in its operations.
The reason for the growth of CFE’s short-term debt is unclear. Analysts are uncertain as to what has triggered the growth in these liabilities. Within the financial statements it is read that the concept that has grown the most is one labeled as fiduciary investment financing, but the company does not specify the destination of the debt that was contracted.
“I don’t know how much [el crecimiento de esta deuda] can be explained by temporary factors such as the covid pandemic between 2020 and 2021 and the increase in fuel prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I think that if we see losses again in 2023 it would be a warning sign that something serious is happening in the management of the company”, says Diego Díaz, a researcher at the Mexican Institute of Competitiveness.
The CFE communication office was consulted, but offered no comment.
In the latest financial result, the state company reports 30 loans maturing this year, with banking institutions such as Banorte, BBVA, Banamex, Santander and JP Morgan.
In its short-term debt, CFE does not include the debt to suppliers or the taxes payable.