Customer-owned Scanpower's earnings surge

Scanpower's power line contracting division was the biggest contributor to a 31 per cent lift in earnings in the past year.

Dannevirke's customer-owned company Scanpower has had a spectacular increase in earnings in the past two years and is up 31 per cent in the past year.

"Our financial performance has been pleasing over the last year and now close to 60 per cent of our total revenue is coming from areas other than the network," Scanpower chairman Allan Benbow said at the annual meeting of the Scanpower customer trust.

"This is a company with a very strong balance sheet."

Scanpower's earnings were $4.967 million before discounts and tax last year, up $1.192m on the targeted result of $3.775m.

The company's power line contracting produced the greatest year-on-year divisional revenue increase, continuing a four-year period of sustained growth.

"A key driver of this result has been our involvement in the Kapiti Expressway project as electrical/street lighting contractors and ongoing work for electrical lines company Powerco," Mr Benbow said.

With improving occupancy of their Oringi Business Park site south of Dannevirke, rental income from investment properties increased by 67 per cent year-on-year to $961,000.

With eight tenancies now in place, many of the buildings at Oringi are now leased and Mr Benbow said US company Intrepid Semiconductor, "tell us they do intend to do business here".

In 2015, Intrepid Semiconductor, owned by San Francisco-based Randy Crockett, signed a six-year contract with Scanpower for the lease of the former freezing-works boning room as a base for its diffusion plant and while it continues to lease the premises, Mr Benbow said Scanpower had agreed to find another tenant for the building, to assist Intrepid.

But challenging management issues with subsidiary the Kiwi Sock Company in Norsewood had meant a capital restructure, with Scanpower now owning 50 per cent of the business.

"Last month was a good one for Kiwi Sock," Mr Benbow said.