EMERA?INC. WOULD?WELCOME Barbadian investment, says its president and chief executive officer Chris Huskilson.
“Emera’s shareholders are a very diverse group. We don’t have concentrated investment. We actually have investment from right across Canada, the United States and Europe,” he told the media last Wednesday at the Island Inn Hotel.
Huskilson said 75 per cent of the company which recently secured control of Barbados Light & Power is owned by “people who aren’t associated with any institution”.
“We very much welcome retail investors and we would like to think, as we issue equity, that people who are citizens of Barbados would also invest in our stock,” he said.
He noted that Emera had proven to be a very good investment over the years and its dividends and share price had “increased nicely”.
“This year we provided a 31 per cent total return to shareholders and over the past five years we’ve been able to provide a 13.5 per cent annualized return,” Huskilson said.
He said the company will invest between US$3.5 billion and US$5 billion in its various companies over the next five years and will be in the debt and common equity markets “on a very regular basis”.
“There will be more Emera stock available on an ongoing basis over the next number of years.
“We are hopeful, and in fact we would plan to see Light & Power Holdings grow and grow quite quickly, and we would think that would ultimately end up meaning that Light & Power Holdings will end up issuing more equity,” the CEO said.
