Profit has jumped 46 per cent for customer-owned Unison Group.
It achieved an after-tax profit of $40.7 million, compared with $24.6 million for the previous year to March.
An increased dividend of $12.7 million, from last year's $9.7m, will be paid to Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust, which owns Unison on behalf of Napier and Hastings power consumers, on August 2. Last year's cheque to the 55,000 customers was for $150.
Retiring Unison chairman Kevin Atkinson said it was in its best-ever financial position and profits were expected to continue rising thanks to subsidiary investments such as ETEL's purchase of Lucky Light Globalindo in Indonesia.
While an increase in customer-requested work and new connections helped revenue growth, favourable currency fluctuations were responsible for $17.3m of Unison's profit.
Capital expenditure for the year was $51.9m compared with last year's $55.2m.
While finances are up service levels are down, with weather events blamed.
Mr Atkinson said so-called one-in-50-year events appeared to be occurring a lot more often but Unison had the strategy, technology and depth of talent to deliver the reliability customers had grown to expect long-term.