The decline from the RM77.116 million in net profit in 2022 was attributed to the withdrawal of tax allowances for the year under review.
The company had RM49 million in deferred tax asset recognised in 2022 for reinvestment allowance that was not utilised.
Nonetheless, its profit before tax more than doubled to RM68.4 million from RM32.9 million in 2022 thanks to higher water rates for business and government entities.
PBAHB chairman Chow Kon Yeow said shareholders approved a final dividend of 1.75 sen per share, amounting to RM5.792 million, at the company’s 24th annual general meeting.
The dividend will be paid by July 26, making it the 23rd year in a row that PBAHB has paid dividends. This also brings the total dividend for the year to 3.5 sen per share.
Chow said PBAHB’s domestic water subsidy, amounting to RM116 million in 2023 has had a negative impact on its financial standing and its ability to fund water supply improvement projects in Penang.
“This is unsustainable,” he said.
He said there is a need to improve water infrastructure to meet growing demand, which is expected to reach 1,532 million litres per day (MLD) by 2030.
He said projects worth RM221 million that have been planned would ensure that supply will meet a record-high demand of 927 MLD.
Chow said the company expects to increase water supply capacity by 114 million litres per day by September through a RM31 million upgrade to its main water treatment plant in Butterworth, which accounts for 80% of the state’s supply.
He said two new pipelines will be laid, one in Seberang Perai and another on Penang Island, at a cost of RM128 million and RM44 million, respectively, to boost water supply to key areas.
In 2023 and early 2024, the water company completed several key projects, including a new water treatment module at Bukit Panchor and the installation of portable water treatment plants in Sungai Bakap to address water woes.
These projects cost a total of RM33.72 million.
Chow said the new domestic water rates were introduced to manage the rising cost of supplying water and to encourage conservation.
The state government also introduced a one-off RM11 million rebate for domestic water consumers to ease the transition to the new rates.