Tuesday, 10 December 2013.
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| The Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon. Fe'aomoeata Vakata receives a cheque of T$389,369 from Carl Sanft, Chairman of Tonga Power Limited, for the first Dividend instalment, during Tonga Power’s Annual General Meeting on 10 December, 2013 |
At the Annual General Meeting held on 10th December 2013, Tonga Power’s directors and management gave a review of the company’s strong performance and ongoing improvements in service levels. With improvements made over the last year, Tonga Power continues to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers in Tonga.
Financially, the company performed well, as evidenced in the dividend payment declared by the Board. The chairman of the Board of Directors, Carl Sanft presented to the Minister for Public Enterprises Hon. Fe’amoeata Vakata a cheque of T$389,369 as a first payment of the declared dividend. The Board resolved to pay the shareholder a total of T$ 1 million in dividends for the 2012/13 financial year. Payments will be made between now and the end of June next year, as cash flow permits.
The honourable minister on behalf of the shareholder the Government of Tonga was grateful for the dividend paid by Tonga Power Ltd despite the tariff freeze imposed by Government earlier in the year, which saw Tonga Power suffer from large diesel cost increases, undertake significant levels of short term savings, and increase borrowings to help cover some of the company’s operating costs.
The honourable minister also conveyed to the chairman and the board of directors, the CEO, John van Brink and management his appreciation for all the hard work they have performed over the year. He added, “Tonga Power is placed as a top performer in the Pacific according to the ADB reports and I am proud to be the Minister of one of the best performing businesses in the Ministry of Public Enterprises”.
For year ended 30 June 2013 Tonga Power’s profit after tax is at T$2.22m from revenue of T$41.86m with total capital investment for the year at T$6.20m.
ENDS
For further details please contact:
Jane Guttenbeil
Tonga Power Ltd
Ph: (+676)21400, E: jguttenbeil@tongapower.to, W: www.tongapower.to