‘Dramatic Increase’ For Watlington Waterworks
In a filing with the Bermuda Stock Exchange [BSX], Watlington Waterworks released their Directors report, saying that their ”performance through the first six months of this year has been remarkable,” with the increase “due to very high demand from increased tourism related activity because of the America’s Cup and an early summer drought.”
The Directors Report stated, “The Company’s performance through the first six months of this year has been remarkable when compared with last year as the Company’s water sales were up dramatically.
“This dramatic increase was due to very high demand from increased tourism related activity because of the America’s Cup and an early summer drought. This starkly contrasted with last year when we had very low demand due to persistent high rainfall.
“The result attests to the Company’s potential when there is a high demand for supplemental drinking water supplies via both metered pipe water and bottle water. The Company has invested significantly and continues to invest substantially every year in its infrastructure so that it can meet maximum demand conditions which may only occur when there is a prolonged drought.
“We must keep planning and investing to strengthen because we are an isolated community and as a major source of public water supply we must be able to stand alone when need be. There are no quick fixes available during a prolonged drought. If we are not able to cope before such an event occurs there will be no way to cope during the event. In years of normal or above average rainfall our assets will have lower utilization.
“This year has been exceptional, unlike the past six years, when production assets had modest utilization, there has been much higher utilization of production and distribution assets – assets that the Company has in place through its long-term infrastructure strengthening.
“The Board continues to support long-term infrastructure strengthening to enhance the Company’s ability to improve productivity and capacity to provide supplementary drinking water resources during periods of exceptionally high demand.
“The Board remains optimistic that with new hotel development, growth in the tourism industry, and further expansion of the distribution system to bring affordable drinking water to more residents, the Company’s future growth and success will be assured.
“The Board also remains committed to sharing the Company’s success with shareholders as the benefits of its long-term strategies to meet future demands for affordable public water supply are realized.”
