How much did Belizeans spend on telephone services last year? $123 million...it's an all time high for BTL which reported the record earning in its financial statements issued last week.
But while Belizeans spent more than ever on phone service, the company's profit after taxes was down 15%. In fact, those record earnings only netted BTL a profit of $18 million; the lowest since 1991 recorded three years after BTL was privatized. This year's disparity between record high revenue and an almost record low in profits is accounted for by a whopping $105 million in operating expenses.
We don't know where all those expenses went, but $5 million of it had to go to Michael Ashcroft's Carlisle holdings, whose top executives earned $2.4 million dollars in management fees and scooped up another $2.4 million when their management contract was canceled at the end of March.
The company will have its annual general meeting on the 12th August at the Princess Hotel and Casino. At that meeting, a new group of ICC directors will be named to the BTL board including ICC board members, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Sir Ronald Sanders. The only remaining Belizean director will be the Prime Minister's brother, Edward Billy Musa, who has served for a record 12 uninterrupted years. The new board of directors is expected to declare the last dividend of BTL as a public company because in the next fiscal year, ICC's directors are expected to amend the articles and run BTL as a fully private company.