Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. is listed for trading in
United States dollars on the
Toronto Stock Exchange.
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Aug. 1,
2014 /CNW/ - Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (TSX: CUP.U)
("CUC" or "the Company") announced today its unaudited results for
the Second Quarter ended June 30,
2014 (all figures in United
States dollars).
Net earnings for the three months ended
June 30, 2014 ("Second Quarter 2014")
totalled $5.7 million, comparable to
the net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2013 ("Second Quarter 2013").
Higher electricity sales revenues in the Second Quarter 2014 were
offset primarily by higher consumer service and maintenance
costs.
After the adjustment for dividends on the
preference shares of the Company, earnings on Class A Ordinary
Shares for the Second Quarter 2014 were $5.6
million, or $0.20 per Class A
Ordinary Share, comparable to earnings on Class A Ordinary Shares
and earnings per Class A Ordinary Share for the Second Quarter
2013.
Net earnings for the six months ended
June 30, 2014 totalled $9.2 million, an increase of $0.6 million when compared to $8.6 million for the six months ended
June 30, 2013. This increase was due
primarily to higher electricity sales revenues and lower
depreciation costs. These items were partially offset by
higher consumer service and finance charges.
After the adjustment for dividends on the
preference shares of the Company, earnings on Class A Ordinary
Shares for the six months ended June 30,
2014 were $9.0 million, or
$0.31 per Class A Ordinary Share, an
increase of $0.6 million from the
$8.4 million, or $0.29 per Class A Ordinary Share for the six
months ended June 30, 2013.
Sales for the Second Quarter 2014 totalled 144.5
million kilowatt-hours ("kWh"), an increase of 0.2 million kWh when
compared to 144.3 million kWh for the Second Quarter 2013. Sales
for the six months ended June 30,
2014 totaled 275.2 million kWh, an increase of 5.5 million
kWh in comparison to 269.7 million kWh for the six months ended
June 30, 2013. Sales for the
Second Quarter 2014 and the six months ended June 30, 2014 were positively impacted by warmer
weather conditions and an increased number of customers when
compared to the same periods last year.
President and CEO, Mr. Richard Hew, says, "The Company continues to
position itself to meet the current and future energy needs of
Grand Cayman by making the
necessary investment in infrastructure while remaining focused on
controlling our operating expenditures and providing our customers
with a safe and reliable electricity service."
Capital expenditures totaled $7.5 million and the Company's reliability of
service as measured by the Average Service Availability Index was
recorded at 99.96% for the Second Quarter 2014.
In June 2014,
following review and approval by the Electricity Regulatory
Authority ("ERA"), the Company increased its base rates by 1.5% as
allowed under the rate cap and adjustment mechanism ("RCAM").
During the period under review, an independent, comprehensive,
allocated Cost of Service Survey ("COSS") was also completed and
submitted to the ERA for review. As a result of the COSS, the
Company adjusted its base rates for a 1% reduction to the
residential customer category, a 2.8% increase to the general
commercial customer category and a 1.1% increase to the large
commercial customer category. Altogether, these adjustments
equate to the 1.5% RCAM base rate increase.
The ERA cancelled the previous solicitation
process for firm generation in July
2013. This process had been initiated by a Certificate of
Need ("CON") issued by CUC in November
2011. The CON was driven primarily by the upcoming
retirement of some of the Company's generating units due to begin
this year.
Following the issuance of a new CON in
October 2013, the ERA has since
restarted the process and bids were submitted by qualified bidders,
including CUC, in May 2014. A
decision is expected imminently as the time given by the ERA for
the announcement of the winning bidder was late July.
During the Second Quarter 2014, CUC secured the
supply of 7.5 megawatts ("MW") of temporary mobile generation
following the retirement of 17.5 MW of generation. This
temporary generation will complement existing generation and help
to ensure continuity of supply until the installation of the firm
capacity.
During the period under review the Company
embarked on a number of initiatives which will continue to enhance
the level of service it provides to its customers by offering
additional off-site bill payment locations with convenient opening
hours, and by improving its Pay-By-Telephone service. More
resources were also added to the Company's Customer Contact Center
to improve e-mail and telephone inquiry response times.
The Advanced Metering Infrastructure ("AMI")
project is slated for substantial completion by the end of 2014. To
date over 8,000 customers have the AMI meters which will assist
them with regularly managing their energy usage. The project will
provide real-time consumption information and bring efficiencies to
meter reading as well as other services. AMI will also enable a
Pay-As-You-Go payment option which will help customers to monitor
and control their electricity consumption.
CUC's Second Quarter results and related
Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the period
ended June 30, 2014 are attached to
this release and incorporated by reference and can be accessed by
clicking the link at the end of this release.
The MD&A section of this report contains a
discussion of CUC's unaudited 2014 Second Quarter results, the
Cayman Islands economy, liquidity
and capital resources, capital expenditures and the business risks
facing the Company. The release and Second Quarter MD&A can be
accessed at www.cuc-cayman.com (Investor Relations/Press Releases)
and at www.sedar.com.
CUC provides electricity to Grand Cayman, Cayman
Islands, under an Electricity Generation Licence expiring in
2029 and an exclusive Electricity Transmission and Distribution
Licence expiring in 2028. Further information is available at
www.cuc-cayman.com.
Certain statements in the MD&A, other
than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements
concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances,
performance or expectations with respect to the Company and its
operations, including its strategy and financial performance and
condition.
Forward looking statements include statements
that are predictive in nature, depend upon future events or
conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates",
"plan", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "projects",
"forecasts", "schedule", or negative versions thereof and other
similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may",
"will", "should", "would" and "could". Forward looking statements
are based on underlying assumptions and management's beliefs,
estimates and opinions, and are subject to inherent risks and
uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally that may
cause actual results to vary from plans, targets and estimates.
Some of the important risks and uncertainties that could affect
forward looking statements are described in the MD&A in the
section labeled "Business Risks" and include but are not limited to
operational, general economic, market and business conditions,
regulatory developments and weather. CUC cautions readers that
actual results may vary significantly from those expected should
certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect. Forward-looking statements are
provided for the purpose of providing information about
management's current expectations and plans relating to the future.
Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate
for other purposes. The Company disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise
except as required by law.
SOURCE Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd.
PDF available at:
http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2014/08/01/20140801_C9321_DOC_EN_42324.pdf