Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing extracted a £237 million dividend from his British electricity network after riding out the Covid crisis.
UK Power Networks, which operates the electricity network in London and the southeast, saw sales edge up to £1.8 billion in the year ending March 31, thanks to tariff increases allowed by the regulators. That helped to offset reduced demand from offices and other business customers that saw workers forced to stay at home.
Pre-tax profits dipped slightly to £615 million but still enabled UK Power Networks to hand out £237 million — the same amount it paid out the year before. The group stressed that it did not access government support during the pandemic. Li Ka-shing’s empire bought UK Power Networks from France’s EDF in 2010 for £5.5 billion and has regularly paid out big dividends to Li, 93.
The accounts, signed off by chief executive Basil Scarsella, also confirmed a shake-up in the ownership structure in May. It means a 20 per cent stake held by the Hong Kong-based Li Ka-shing Foundation, the tycoon’s charity, has been passed to CK Asset Holdings Limited, the Caymans-based property arm of the retired billionaire.
CK Asset has also bought from his charity stakes in Northumbrian Water and Wales & West Utilities. Li controls the mobile operator Three and Greene King pubs.
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UK Power Networks said returns were capped by the regulator and it had invested £5.8 billion in its networks over the last decade.
