Bianca Bharti, Daily Herald
Because of positive earnings from the Crown corporations, the Crown Investment Corporation saw increased earnings year over year, according to its annual report.
The Crown’s holding company reported $503 million in net earnings for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. Net earnings increased by $104.4 million over last year, primarily due to selling off assets from the Saskatchewan Transportation company and increased net income from SaskPower.
“Total net proceeds from the sale of vehicles, equipment, land and buildings up to March 31, 2018 were $27.6 million, resulting in a dividend payment of $22 million,” according to a statement by the provincial government.
CIC also passed its budgeted goal of $180 million in dividends, allocating $205 million in dividends to the General Revenue Fund.
“Crown profitability was challenged through increased competition, environmental regulations, economic fluctuations, and the need for infrastructure investment,” Crown Investments Corporation Minister Joe Hargrave said.
On top of the STC sale, CIC spent $1.5 billion on capital expenditures, mainly investing in infrastructure and capital projects. An additional debt of $379.3 million was incurred in the fiscal year as a primary result of the capital expenditures.
The company also kept operating costs under budget for the 2017-18 year, mainly due to restraint initiatives put in place. It budgeted for $11.2 million with an actual operational spend of $10.1 million.
Currently its portfolio includes $1.6 billion in investments and $14.2 billion in property, plant and equipment.
CIC was established to act as a holding corporation for the Province’s commercial Crown sector. The Crown corporation develops broad corporate policy, directs investments for its subsidiaries and provides dividends to the province’s General Revenue Fund.
