Top five performers among SOEs revealed
THE Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., the Barbados Water Authority and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) were three of the five top performers among the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) over the last six months.
Making the announcement, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn outlined the three had racked up profits of $17.30 million, $8.82 million, and $8.38 million respectively within the time period.
In addition, New Life Investment Company Inc. (NLICO), and the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) made profits of $23.87 million and $6.56 million respectively.
“For 2018, the reverse was true with 13 entities reporting profits of $55.78 million while the remaining 15 incurred losses of $45.54 million,” he highlighted.
Pointing out that NLICO’s improved performance was mainly due to “gains on disposal of assets”, he attributed the top performance of the island’s main medical facility to a Government subvention of $72.37 million, followed by the 2.5 per cent Health Service Contributions Levy, which contributed $30.37 million.
“Without these sources of income, the operations would not be sustainable since the QEH’s core business of patient services fees only brought in $5.30 million or five per cent of its total revenue,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Transport Board, the National Conservation Commission, the National Assistance Board, the Fair Trading Commission and the Child Care Board were listed as the five major under-performers with deficits of $9.05 million, $5.78 million, $2.72 million, $1.99 million, and $1.49 million respectively.
“While it is expected that the commercial entities would comprise the top performers, it is noted that two of the five under-performers – the Transport Board and National Conservation Commission – had combined losses of $14.83 million, representing 55 per cent of the total,” Straughn said in a ministerial statement.
He pointed out the aggregate revenue for the SOEs amounted to $451.33 million, increasing by $80.63 million over $370.69 million reported for the previous year.
“Overall, the commercial SOEs were responsible for $373.11 million or 83 per cent of the aggregate revenue,” he added.
Currently, there are 33 SOEs – 22 commercial and 11 non-commercial, under the memorandum of understanding between Government and the International Monetary Fund.
The minister outlined that between April and September, the entities reported an aggregate net profit of $60.95 million. Commercial SOEs were shown as the major contributors to the aggregate net profit, accounting for 83 per cent or $50.85 million of the total, while the non-commercial SOEs accounted for the remaining 17 per cent – $10.10 million of the amount, representing an increase of $50.70 million when compared to $10.24 million earned in the previous year.
“Fifteen of the entities reported profits of $87.90 million, while the remaining 13 incurred losses of $26.95 million,” Straughn added.