State enterprises record $4b surplus

Some 13 state enterprises recorded a net surplus of $4 billion for the period October 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, according to the 2012 Review of the Economy, which stated that the performance was a marginal decrease of 0.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2011.

The 13 state enterprises include National Gas Company, Petrotrin, NP—all of which are 100 per cent owned by the State—and Tringen, the 51 per cent state-owned company which is owned in a joint venture with Norway’s Yara. The largest generators of net operating surplus during the six-month period were Petrotrin with $2.billion and the National Gas Company (NGC) with $1.8 billion, stated the Review of the Economy, which is a budget document that was laid in Parliament by Minister of Finance, Larry Howai, during the reading of the 2013 budget.

Tringen generated a net operating surplus of $466.4 million. Net operating surplus is the difference between the state enterprise’s operating revenue and its operating expenditure. Petrotrin reported a lower operating surplus than the previous period on account of a larger increase in operating expenditure over operating revenues.

“At NGC, higher production levels coupled with lower operating expenditure contributed to the Company’s more favourable surplus position than in the previous reporting period. TRINGEN’s surplus was due mainly to the increase in the sale of foreign goods which increased from $1.2 billion at end March 2011 to $1.5 billion at the end of March 2012,” according to the document.

The 13 state enterprises generated operating revenues of $31.3 billion during the first half of the 2012 fiscal year, while recording operating revenues of $27.3 billion.

While the consolidated operations of the 13 state enterprises generated a surplus, over the first half of the 2012 fiscal year the six public utilities—Airports Authority; Port Authority, PTSC, TSTT, TTEC and WASA—recorded a deficit of $714 million. This operating position reflected a 41 per cent decrease from the $506 million deficit recorded in the first half of fiscal 2011. Those companies had operating revenues of $3.6 billion, but operating expenditures of $4.3 billion.

The Review of the Economy states: “Among the Public Utilities, only the TSTT generated a surplus of $431.8 million. The other five utilities operated in deficits totalling $1,146.4 million with the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) responsible for 67 per cent ($767.8 million) of the public utilities overall deficit.”

It was also reported that for the first half of fiscal 2012, capital expenditure incurred by both state enterprises and public utilities, totalled $3.04 billion of which, the public utilities accounted for 16.7 per cent and state enterprises 83. 3 per cent.