Dividend Announcement - 12 September 2005 Print

More than $52 million is being paid to income beneficiaries of the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust (AECT) through this year’s dividend to beneficiaries. Each income beneficiary will receive $180 from the Trust, paid as a credit on their power bill.


AECT income beneficiaries are the more than 292,000 Vector electricity customers in Auckland City, Manukau City and parts of the Papakura District. Population increases mean that there are 6,000 more income beneficiaries than last year. Despite the greater numbers, the dividend is 5.8 percent higher than last year and reflects the continued growth of the AECT’s investment in Vector.

In the past year Vector has become New Zealand’s largest energy infrastructure company after successfully completing a takeover of Natural Gas Corporation.
Also in the past year, and with the agreement of the AECT, the company completed an initial public offering of 24.9 percent of its shares. The AECT holds the majority 75.1 percent shareholding and expects the company’s growth to provide significantly higher dividends for beneficiaries.
The distribution will follow the usual procedure and the $180 dividend will be credited to beneficiaries’ power bills from mid-September through to mid-October, depending on the billing cycle of the household’s energy retailer.

For a family of four, the dividend is the equivalent of around four months free residential line charges and the AECT says this shows once again the value of the AECT for the consumers in the Trust district.