Northern Ireland electricity company Viridian reported pre tax profit of £69.8 million sterling in line with market expectations.
Exceptional charges of £71.9 million at its logistics management company Sx3 (£29m) and nevada tele.com (£41m) were offset by a strong performance in its core electricity businesses.
In March, Viridian said it was cutting 250 jobs at Sx3 and warned that pre-tax profits would fall short of market forecasts by about 10 per cent.
Profits in the group’s electricity operations in Northern Ireland and the Republic were £90.7 million compared with £81.5 million last year.
The group said its new power plant at Huntstown near Dublin is due for completion in December 2002.
The final dividend was unchanged at 22.55 pence, giving a full year increase of 2.6 per cent to 31.42 pence. But the group warned that future dividend policy will hinge on the British electricity regulator’s review of the company’s pricing policy.
