Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. is listed for trading in
United States dollars on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "CUP.U".
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Feb.
11, 2022 /CNW/ - Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (TSX:
CUP.U) ("CUC" or "the Company") announced today its audited results
for the twelve-month period ended December
31, 2021 (all figures in United
States dollars).
President and CEO of Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd, Mr.
Richard Hew says that during the
past two years the Company has invested over $100 million in infrastructure to ensure the
delivery of safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity
to our customers, while improving efficiencies to control operating
costs.
Reflecting on the past year, Mr. Hew stated, "Despite the
COVID-19 challenges, the Company made good progress on a number of
projects during the past year. The Cayman
Islands' economy continued to be impacted in 2021 by the
COVID-19 pandemic as the tourism industry remained closed for most
of the year. However, the economy proved to be resilient, showing
growth in the financial services sector and in the construction
sector with new condominiums, commercial buildings and
single-family homes driving the Company's 3% kWh sales
growth. We are very proud of the excellent service provided by
our employees who have been able to quickly adapt throughout a
multitude of changing circumstances."
The Company continues to monitor the impact of rising fuel costs
on customer bills and is committed to increasing renewable
energy connected to the grid in accordance with its Integrated
Resource Plan ("IRP"). The IRP recommends pursuing natural
gas as a diesel fuel replacement and increasing the utilization of
renewable energy for up to 60% of the electricity needs by 2037.
The Company remains actively engaged with the
Utility Regulation and Competition Office on this as well
as a number of related projects in its efforts to reduce the impact
of rising fuel costs on customers' bills.
During the year, the Company concluded a Request for Proposals
for a 20-megawatt Utility-Scale Battery for its Instantaneous
Reserves project. The primary function of the Utility-Scale Battery
is to provide instantaneous or "spinning" reserve in the event of a
sudden loss in power generation. By replacing the spinning reserve
normally provided by CUC's online generators, fewer generators will
need to be online, significantly reducing the amount of fuel
consumed for electricity production. As a direct result of this
project, the Company expects that the initial magnitude of savings
to the customers will be around $1
million per annum. This project is scheduled for completion
in 2023. Battery storage also provides the grid stability
necessary to integrate higher levels of intermittent
renewables.
Renewable energy purchases for the year ended
December 31, 2021 ("Fiscal 2021")
totalled $5.8 million, an increase of $0.8 million when compared to
December 31, 2020 ("Fiscal
2020"). Renewable energy is sourced from the
Customer Owned Renewable Energy and Distributed Energy Resources
programmes and Bodden Town Cayman Solar 1 Limited and
costs are passed through to consumers on a two-month lag basis
with no mark-up.
Operating income for Fiscal 2021 totalled $30.2 million, a $1.3
million increase from operating income of $28.9 million for Fiscal 2020. This
increase is primarily attributable to higher electricity sales
revenues, partially offset by higher general and administration,
transmission and distribution and depreciation costs.
Net earnings for Fiscal 2021 were $30.3
million, a $4.2 million
increase from net earnings of $26.1
million for Fiscal 2020. This increase is primarily
attributable to higher operating income and lower finance
charges.
After the adjustment for dividends on the preference shares of
the Company, earnings on Class A Ordinary Shares for Fiscal 2021
were $29.3 million, or $0.79 per Class A Ordinary Share, as compared to
$25.1 million, or $0.74 per Class A Ordinary Share, for Fiscal
2020. The Company calculates earnings per share on the
weighted average number of Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding. The
weighted average number of Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding were
37,199,456 and 34,126,137 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. The
Company successfully completed a Rights Offering on October 29, 2020. The Rights Offering
raised gross proceeds of $47.8
million through the issue of 3,359,362 Class A Ordinary
Shares.
Capital expenditures for Fiscal 2021 were $60.2 million, a $6.8
million or 13% increase from $53.4
million in capital expenditures for Fiscal 2020.
Sales for Fiscal 2021 were 660.5 million kWh, an increase of
16.2 million kWh or 3% when compared to 644.3 million kWh for
Fiscal 2020. This was driven by an increase in kWh
consumption across all customer categories and a 3% growth in
overall customer numbers in Fiscal 2021 compared to Fiscal
2020. Fiscal 2020 sales were negatively impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shutdown of the Cayman Islands' economy.
Total customers as at December 31,
2021 were 32,185, an increase of 892 compared to 31,293
customers as at December 31,
2020.
CUC's 2021 results and related Management's Discussion and
Analysis ("MD&A") for the twelve-month period ended
December 31, 2021 are attached to
this release and incorporated by reference. The release and 2021
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 2039 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", "plans",
"believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "projects",
"forecasts", "schedules", 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.