Business
CUC Announces Third Quarter Results for the Period Ended September 30, 2009
CUC Announces Third Quarter Results for the Period Ended September 30, 2009
About this update from Caribbean Utilities Co. Ltd. Class A
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nNov. 4, 2009 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Nov. 4 /CNW/ -- Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (\"CUC\" or the \"Company\") announced today its unaudited results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009 (all figures in United States dollars). Following the change in financial year end from April 30 to December 31, as announced in August 2008, results in this report are compared with the nearest, previously reported period in 2008.Electricity sales for the third quarter of 2009 totaled 153.3 million kiloWatt hours (\"kWh\") in comparison to 145.8 million kWh for the three months ended October 31, 2008; an increase of 5%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, electricity sales declined by 2% to 415.6 kWh, compared to 423.6 kWh for the nine months ended October 31, 2008. Electricity sales were adversely affected by cooler and wetter than average weather throughout the first half of 2009 but positively affected by higher temperatures during July and August 2009 when a new peak load of 97.5 MegaWatts (\"MW\") was recorded. Also affecting the sales variance is the comparison of two differing periods. The decline in nine month sales is also partly a result of slower economic growth on the island.Net earnings for the third quarter of 2009 were $6.6 million. This represents a 22% or $1.2 million increase from net earnings of $5.4 million for the three months ended October 31, 2008. Net earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were down $1.0 million, or 7%, at $14.1 million compared to net earnings of $15.1 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2008. Three month earnings were positively affected by higher sales compared to 2008 and the 2.4% rate increase in June 2009. During the nine month period ended September 30, 2009, earnings were adversely affected by a contraction in sales due to cooler and wetter than usual weather during the first six months of 2009 as well as slowed economic growth on the island. Comparing to the nine months ended October 31, 2008, there was a favourable fuel cost recovery of $2.5 million due to timing in 2008 partially offset by lower maintenance and finance costs. The introduction of a fuel tracker mechanism in the Company's 2008 Transmission and Distribution Licence has eliminated favourable or adverse timing differences in fuel cost recovery...