WIOC hands over $ 5 million

Gregory Georges, chief executive officer of the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC), has thanked the government of Antigua and Barbuda for not being heavy-handed in its management of WIOC in which it has a large stake. “He has given management the freedom to run the business. He does not interfere and we make commercial decisions. I want to thank the prime minister for that freedom,” Georges said.
The WIOC CEO was speaking yesterday at the Cabinet’s Report for the year 2017 – a live press event at which government ministers take questions about the work of their ministries over the year. The event was used for the handing over of a dividend cheque for E.C $5.3 million to the government from WIOC which Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, said would be deposited into the accounts of the National Asset Management Company (NAMCo).
Browne said, “We saw a small dip in profits because the company had to expend over $15 million in capital expenditure so their interest charges increased. As a result of the increase in the value of their assets, depreciation would have increased as well and that in essence would have reduced the profits.” He said that in 2017 WIOC’s preliminary projections are for profits of $21 million of which the government will be entitled to $6.5 million.