Tonga Power Ltd. paid the Tonga government a dividend of $389,369 pa’anga on Tuesday, 10 December at the Annual General Meeting of the Tonga Power Board.

The chairman of the board of directors of Tonga Power Ltd., Carl Sanft, handed a cheque to the Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon Fe’aomoeata Vakata. The payment is the first part of the government's share of a $1 million dividend that will be paid by the end of June next year.

Tonga Power Ltd. in a statement said that the large dividend payment reflected a successful financial performance by the company. “For the year ended 30 June 2013 Tonga Power’s profit after tax is at T$2.22m from revenue of T$41.86m with total capital investment the year at T$6.20m.”

The good performance was credited to improvements in service. “With improvements made over the last year, Tonga Power continues to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers in Tonga,” the statement said.

Hon Vakata expressed gratitude on behalf of the government and appreciation to Tonga Power’s CEO, John van Bink and management.

“Tonga Power is placed as a top performer in the Pacific according to the ADB reports and I am proud to be the Minister of one of the best performing businesses in the Ministry of Public Enterprises,” he said.