One of Britain’s electricity grid operators has paid its billionaire Hong Kong owner a £237m dividend for the second year in a row.
UK Power Networks, which runs electricity infrastructure in London, the South East and East of England, handed the huge payouts to Li Ka-shing.
The firm has been part of his empire since 2010, when he bought it for £5.5billion from France’s EDF.
Power play: UK Power Networks, which runs electricity infrastructure in London, the South East and East of England, handed the huge payouts to Li Ka-shing
Accounts show Li has extracted nearly £2billion in dividends since then. Turnover at UK Power Networks edged up from £1.73billion to £1.76billion in the year to March 31.
However profits fell from £692.5m to £614.8m.
The firm said the rise in revenues was mainly due to price hikes, while rising costs were blamed for the fall in profit.
It said investor returns such as dividends are capped by regulators and insisted it had invested £5.8billion in its networks under Li’s ownership.
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