Your power company, BEL is holding its annual general meeting tonight and the company's shareholders have about $15 million reasons to celebrate. In the financial year which ended on December 31st 2004, BEL had revenue of $105.5 million, making it the second richest company in the country, behind only BTL, whose earnings last year were $118 million.
BEL's profits after taxes were $15.8 million, almost two million more than the previous year, the product of a 7% increase in energy sales to its 66,000 customers. And those taxes were modest, the company paid $1.5 million in taxes, when a company of nearly equivalent earnings like BTL pays over $20 million in taxes annually. But it's all the better for shareholders who will get a dividend of 53 cents per share, up 3 cents from the previous year.
The Canadian power company Fortis owns 68% of BEL with the rest of the shareholdings distributed amongst Belizean companies and small private shareholders.
