Eirgrid pays €4m maiden dividend

EirGrid has paid a maiden annual dividend of €4m to the Government on the back of seeing a 194% rise in profits last year and has expressed cautious optimism regarding progress on its contentious GridLink power plan.

The national grid operator’s latest annual report published yesterday showed an €80m increase in revenues to €622.1m and a jump in statutory pre-tax profits from €20.8m to €61.1m.

The results show a large positive effect from the one-year old East-West Interconnector, which links the Irish and British electricity markets. The cable contributed €34m to EirGrid’s overall 2013 profit and accounted for €50m of the €80m revenue increase.