Chairman of Manx Utilities Alf Cannan MHK says it is to the credit of staff that the board is ahead of its long-term financial plan - but sounds a note of caution for the next financial year.

The annual report will be laid before Tynwald later this month. It shows a surplus for the year of ?2.1million compared with a combined deficit for water and electricity authorities of ?4.8million in 2013/14.

Manx Utilities was created in April last year and the report states that the merged entity is 'progressing towards a sound financial footing'.

Mr Cannan says: 'It is to the credit of the Manx Utilities staff that we are ahead of the long term financial plan approved by Tynwald, however as a note of caution, significant contributions to this positive result were due to global energy and foreign exchange markets, which may not be repeated in future years.

'From 2015/16 we will also be required to pay interest charges to Government which will have a negative financial impact. The Manx Utilities Board remains acutely aware that the cost of living challenges facing our customers remain and we must do all we can to deliver our services as cost effectively as possible. We will therefore continue to seek further progress with the realisation of synergies and delivery of efficiency savings.'

Figures show the bond repayment fund – which is in place to repay the Manx Utilities bonds totalling ?260m - has increased to ?33m from ?30m in the previous year, and the net debt has reduced by ?11m – from ?508m to ?497m. Combining the two authorities contributed to a reduction in operational costs of ?2.2million.


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