UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
þ
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 |
OR
o
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transaction period from _____________ to _____________
Commission File Number: 0-25248
CONSOLIDATED WATER CO. LTD.
| CAYMAN ISLANDS | N/A | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| Trafalgar Place, West Bay Road, P.O. Box 1114GT, Grand Cayman, B.W.I. |
N/A | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrants Telephone number, including area code: (345) 945-4277
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
| ORDINARY SHARES, PAR VALUE CI$1.00 | ||
| (Title of Class) |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K. [Not Applicable]
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act. Yes þ No o
The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing sales price for the registrants ordinary shares, as reported on the Nasdaq National Market on June 30, 2004, was $149,585,207.
As at June 30, 2004, there were 5,748,855 shares of the registrants ordinary shares outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None
EXCHANGE RATES
Unless otherwise indicated, all dollar amounts are in United States Dollars and references to $, U.S., or U.S.$ are to United States Dollars.
The official fixed exchange rate for conversion of CI$ into U.S.$, as determined by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, has been fixed since April 1974 at U.S. $1.20 per CI$1.00.
The official fixed exchange rate for conversion of BZE$ into U.S.$, as determined by the Central Bank of Belize, has been fixed since 1976 at U.S.$ 0.50 per BZE$ 1.00.
The official fixed exchange rate for conversion of BAH$ into U.S.$, as determined by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, has been fixed since 1973 at U.S.$ 1.00 per BAH$ 1.00.
The official fixed exchange rate for conversation of BDS$ into U.S.$ as determined by the Central Bank of Barbados has been fixed since 1975 at U.S.$ 0.50 = BDS$ 1.00.
The British Virgin Islands currency is U.S.$.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward-Looking Statements
We discuss in this Annual Report matters which are not historical facts, but which are forward-looking statements. We intend these forward looking statements to qualify for safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our future plans, objectives, expectations and events, assumptions and estimates about our company and our industry in general.
The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report reflect what we currently anticipate will happen. What actually happens could differ materially from what we currently anticipate will happen. We are not promising to make any public announcement when we think forward looking statements in this Annual Report are no longer accurate whether as a result of new information, what actually happens in the future or for any other reason.
Important matters that may affect what will actually happen include, but are not limited to: tourism and weather conditions in the areas we service; our ability to manage, integrate and realize the benefits from our recent acquisitions; scheduled new construction within our operating areas; the economies of the U.S. and the areas we service; regulatory matters; availability of capital to repay a substantial portion of our bank debt and for expansion of our operations, and other factors described in the Risk Factors section below as well as elsewhere in this Annual Report. Prior to commencing construction on the Blue Hills and Windsor plants, the Company must negotiate a definitive agreement with the Water and Sewerage Corporation of the Bahamas and obtain financing for the projects, which we anticipate will consist of $12.0 million of debt and $10.0 million of equity. No assurances can be made that the Company will be able to obtain financing at all or that the available financing opportunities will be on terms acceptable to the Company.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Introduction
Our company, Consolidated Water Co. Ltd., was incorporated in 1973 and uses reverse osmosis technology to produce freshwater from seawater. We process and supply water to our customers in the Cayman Islands, Belize, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. We sell water to a variety of customers, including public utilities, commercial and tourist properties, residential properties and government facilities.
Effective February 1, 2003, we acquired interests in five companies, which operate a total of seven desalination plant facilities. With one of these acquisitions, we obtained the exclusive right through October 2009 to distribute the DWEER Energy Recovery System for use in reverse osmosis seawater desalination plants in the Caribbean basin. We believe the DWEER System makes us more competitive when bidding for new plant construction projects.
On July 30, 2003, we acquired a further 13.5% of Waterfields Company Limited (Waterfields) and effective August 1, 2003, acquired an additional 64.7% interest resulting in total controlling interest of 90.9% of Waterfields. These acquisitions increased our daily water production capacity in the Cayman Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and expanded our geographic presence to include Barbados and the British Virgin Islands. As a result of these acquisitions, our daily capacity has more than tripled from approximately 2.9 to 10.9 million U.S. gallons per day.
Our strategy is to provide water services in areas where the supply of potable water is scarce. We have focused on the Caribbean basin and adjacent areas as our principal market because these areas have: little or no naturally occurring fresh water; limited local regulations and taxes allowing for higher returns than most highly regulated countries and a large proportion of tourist properties, which historically have generated higher volume sales than residential properties.
To execute this strategy, we plan to grow our business by:
| | continuing to develop our production and distribution infrastructure and providing high quality potable water to our licensed area in the Cayman Islands; | |||
| | expanding our existing operations in Belize, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas; | |||
| | extending our operations to other markets outside our current areas of operation where there is a need for potable water; and | |||
| | broadening our existing and future operations into complimentary services, such as wastewater management. | |||
Our business group structure is defined based on areas of management responsibility, which are (i) the operations to supply water to retail customers, (ii) the operations to supply water to bulk customers, and (iii) the provision of engineering and management services. In 2003, we changed the composition of our reportable segments. The operations in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas that had previously been reported as separate geographical segments are included in our Retail Water segment and the operation in Belize is included in our Bulk Water segment. Our Services segment is a new business segment created as a result of our acquisitions in February 2003. In 2004, our Retail Water, Bulk Water
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and Services segments accounted for 52%, 44% and 4%, respectively of our total revenue. In 2003, these percentages were 57%, 37% and 6%, respectively and in 2002, these percentages were 88%, 12% and nil%, respectively.
Financial Information about Business Segments
Financial information about business segments is included in Note 18 in our consolidated statements set forth in ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA herein.
Business Combinations
Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of our wholly-owned subsidiaries Cayman Water Company Limited, Belize Water Limited, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, DesalCo Limited, DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd, and our majority owned subsidiary Waterfields Company Limited. The operating results of Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, DesalCo Limited and DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd. have been included in the consolidated financial statements effective February 1, 2003. The operating results of Waterfields Company Limited have been included in the financial statements effective August 1, 2003. All inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated. Our investment in Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. has been accounted for under the equity method of accounting.
RETAIL WATER OPERATIONS
Our Retail water segment accounted for 52% of our revenues in 2004 (2003: 57%; 2002: 88%) and is comprised of businesses in the Cayman Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. These businesses produce potable water from seawater and distribute this water to end-users, including residential, commercial and government customers.
Retail Water Operations in the Cayman Islands
In the Cayman Islands, we sell retail water to a variety of customers through our wholly-owned subsidiary Cayman Water Company Limited.
Our retail operations in the Cayman Islands currently produce potable water at three reverse osmosis seawater conversion plants in Grand Cayman, namely our Governors Harbour plant, West Bay plant and Britannia plant. The Britannia plant was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 and is not expected to be fully functional again until May 2005. We own the land where two of our three water plants are located and have entered into a 25-year lease on the site where the third plant is located. The current production capacities of our Governors Harbour plant and West Bay plant are 1.2 million and 710,000 U.S. gallons per day, respectively. The production capacity of the Britannia plant will be 750,000 U.S. gallons per day when it is restored to operating condition in May 2005. Since the Governors Harbour and West Bay plants began production of water, they have consistently been capable of operating at or near their rated capacity.
Feed water for the reverse osmosis units is drawn from deep wells with associated pumps on the properties. Reject water is discharged into brine wells on the properties at a deeper level than the feed water intakes.
Electricity to our plants is supplied by Caribbean Utilities Co. Ltd., a publicly-traded utility company. At all three plant sites from which we supply water to our distribution pipeline, we maintain
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diesel driven, standby generators with sufficient capacity to operate our distribution pumps and other essential equipment during any temporary interruptions in the electricity supply.
In the event of an emergency, our distribution system is connected to the George Town, Grand Cayman distribution system of Water Authority-Cayman. In prior years in order to efficiently maintain our equipment, we have purchased water from Water Authority-Cayman for brief periods of time. We have also sold potable water to the Water Authority-Cayman from time to time. After Hurricane Ivan struck the island in September 2004, we purchased approximately 1.6 million U.S. gallons of water from the Water Authority-Cayman while we were making repairs to our own water production and distribution systems.
Our pipeline system in the Cayman Islands covers the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas of Grand Cayman and consists of approximately 68 miles of PVC pipeline. We extend our distribution system periodically as property developments are completed. We have a main pipe loop covering a major part of the Seven Mile Beach area. We place extensions of smaller diameter pipe off our main pipe to service new developments in our service area. This system of building branches from the main pipe keeps our construction costs low and allows us to provide service to new areas in a timely manner. During 2004, we completed a number of small pipeline extensions into newly developed properties within our distribution system.
Developers are responsible for laying the pipeline within their developments at their own cost, but in accordance with our specifications. When a development is completed, the developer then transfers operation and maintenance of the pipeline to us.
We have a comprehensive layout of our pipeline system, which is maintained in a computer aided design (CAD) system. This system is integrated with digital aerial photographs and a computer generated hydraulic model, which allows us to accurately locate pipes and equipment in need of repair and maintenance. It also helps us to plan extensions of and upgrades to our existing pipeline system.
Residential and Commercial Operations in the Cayman Islands
We enter into standard contracts with hotels, condominiums and other properties located in our existing licensed area to provide potable water to such properties. We currently have agreements on differing terms and rates to supply potable water to the 309-room Marriott Hotel, the 343-room Westin Hotel, the 357-room Hyatt Hotel and Britannia Golf Course, and to supply non-potable water to the SafeHaven Golf Course.
In the Seven Mile Beach area, our primary customers are the hotels and condominium complexes which serve the tourist industry. On September 11 and 12, 2004, Hurricane Ivan significantly damaged many of the hotel and condominium properties within our Cayman Islands license area. On March 1, 2005, the Government of the Cayman Islands reported that approximately 35% of Grand Caymans hotels rooms were fit for occupancy. The Government also reported that room availability is not expected to be fully restored to pre-Ivan levels until well into 2006. In the West Bay area, our primary customers are residential homes. Occasionally, we also supply to, or buy from, on an as-needed basis, the Water Authority-Cayman, which serves the business district of George Town and other parts of Grand Cayman.
Although adversely impacted by Hurricane Ivan, development is taking place on Grand Cayman, and particularly in our licensed area to accommodate both the growing local population and the tourism market. Because our license requires us to supply water to developments in our licensed area, the planning department of the Cayman Islands government routinely advises us of proposed developments in our licensed area. This advance notice allows us to manage our production capacity to meet anticipated
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demand. We believe that we have, or have contracted for, a sufficient supply of water to meet the foreseeable future demand.
We bill on a monthly basis based on metered consumption. Receivables are typically collected within 30 to 35 days after the billing date and receivables not collected within 45 days subject the customer to disconnection from our water service. In 2004, bad debts represented less than 1% of our total sales for the year. Customers who have had their service disconnected must pay re-connection charges.
The following table shows, for each of the five years ended December 31, 2004, our total number of customer connections at the end of each year and metered sales of water for that year:
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | ||||||||||||||||
Number of Customers |
3,600 | 3,300 | 3,100 | 2,999 | 2,836 | |||||||||||||||
Miles of Pipeline |
68 | 67 | 66 | 65 | 64 | |||||||||||||||
Metered Sales (in
thousands of
U.S. gallons): |
||||||||||||||||||||
Commercial |
451,609 | 429,013 | 405,545 | 358,711 | 345,940 | |||||||||||||||
Residential |
122,699 | 107,528 | 103,661 | 104,002 | 97,759 | |||||||||||||||
Government |
7,584 | 6,164 | 13,789 | 11,425 | 7,599 | |||||||||||||||
Total Metered Sales |
581,892 | 542,705 | 522,995 | 474,138 | 451,298 | |||||||||||||||
The table above does not precisely represent the actual number of facilities we service. For example, in hotels and condominiums, we may only have a single customer, which is the operator of the hotel or the condominium, but we actually supply water to all of the units within that hotel or condominium development. Of the customers indicated in the table above, as of 2004, 56.0% were residential, 42.8% were hotels, condominiums and other commercial customers and 1.2% were government facilities.
In the past, demand on our pipeline distribution has varied throughout the year. Demand depends upon the number of tourists visiting and the amount of rainfall during any particular time of the year. In general, the majority of tourists come from the United States during the winter months.
We have an agreement with Safehaven Ltd. to supply non-potable water on demand to irrigate an 18-hole golf course. Since December 31, 2004, the agreement may be terminated by either party upon four months notice. We had been in discussions with Safehaven Ltd. prior to the passing of Hurricane Ivan to replace this agreement with a new long term supply contract. However, no further discussions have been held since August 2004 and we may not be able to renew this agreement.
Before 1991, any owner of property within our licensed area could install water-making equipment for its own use. Since 1991, that option is only available to private residences, although water plants in existence prior to 1991 can be maintained but not replaced or expanded. When the Marriott Hotel was built in 1990 in our licensed area, the developer installed its own reverse osmosis seawater desalination equipment. The equipment proved unreliable, and on February 4, 1994, we entered into an agreement with the owner of the Marriott Hotel to supply between 60,000 and 180,000 U.S. gallons of water per month at our standard tariff rates. If we are required to supply more than 180,000 U.S. gallons in a month, we will provide the water at our standard tariff rates on a best efforts basis. The owner of the hotel has indicated that it may refurbish the reverse osmosis equipment, however, we do not believe the hotel has the right to refurbishment or replace the plant under Cayman Islands law.
In 1995, we entered into a 10-year agreement with the owner of the Westin Hotel. This agreement requires us to supply up to 1.86 million U.S. gallons per month at a discount to our standard tariff rates, and to supply any additional demand on a best efforts basis. The Westin Hotel maintains storage capacity
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on-site, assists pressurization with on-site re-pumping facilities, and has provided us with a letter of credit that covers the cost of water supply for 45 days. Upon expiration of the agreement in October 2005, we expect to supply the Westin Hotel under the terms and conditions of our Seven Mile beach license agreement with the Cayman Islands Government.
On February 1, 2002, we entered into a 25-five year agreement to acquire the Britannia plant and to supply a minimum of 62.0 million U.S. gallons of potable water per year on a take or pay basis to Cayman Hotel and Golf, Inc., the owner of the Hyatt Grand Cayman Resort and Britannia golf course. We are required by our government license to meet any water demand from our customer above the 62.0 million U.S. gallons of water supplied per year. A portion of the Hyatt Hotel has been closed since it was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 and water demand under this contract has been reduced. Cayman Hotel and Golf, Inc. is invoiced for the monthly minimum balance but we only record the revenue associated with the water used by them and accrue a credit equal to the cost of the difference between their monthly minimum volume charged and their actual consumption for that month. This credit resets every twenty-four months and as of February 1, 2005 Cayman Hotel and Golf had a credit of 14,745,370 U.S. gallons, which they must use or lose before June 1, 2006.
Retail Water Operations in the Bahamas
In 2000, we entered into a water supply agreement with South Bimini International Ltd., a company incorporated in the Commonwealth of Bahamas, and on July 11, 2001 we began to provide potable water from one reverse osmosis seawater conversion plant in South Bimini, Bahamas capable of producing 115,000 U.S. gallons per day. Potable water is supplied to Bimini Sands Resort, a marina and condominium development and Bimini Beach Hotel, a 40 room hotel. The developer of the Bimini Sands Resort continues to develop the property, but we are not currently aware of any time schedule by the developer for the completion of the additional condominium units. Under our agreement, South Bimini International Ltd. is committed to pay for a minimum of 3,000 U.S. gallons of water per customer per month (36,000 U.S. gallons per customer per year) on a take or pay basis in relation to the Bimini Sands Resort. The price of water supplied is adjusted for inflation annually based on Bahamian and U.S. government indices, and adjusted monthly for changes in the cost of electricity. During 2004, we supplied South Bimini International Ltd. with 4.5 million U.S. gallons of water.
We believe that water sales in Bimini will continue to be cyclical. We expect that our sales will be higher during the summer months when tourists and fisherman arrive from the United States by boat, and when several large angling tournaments are traditionally held in Bimini. We expect that our sales will be lower during winter months when the weather is not conducive to pleasure boat travel from the United States.
Feed water for the reverse osmosis unit is drawn from deep wells with associated pumps on the property. Reject water is discharged into brine wells on the property at a deeper level than the feed water intakes.
Electricity to our plants is supplied by Bahamas Electricity Corporation. We maintain a diesel driven, standby generator with sufficient capacity to operate our distribution pumps and other essential equipment during any temporary interruption in the electricity supply.
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Retail Water Demand and Average Sales Price
The table below lists the total volume of water we supplied on a quarterly basis for the five years ended December 31, 2004 to all of our Retail Water customers:
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. gallons) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
First Quarter |
176,346 | 141,575 | 141,559 | 119,115 | 125,869 | |||||||||||||||||
Second Quarter |
175,813 | 144,134 | 146,488 | 129,305 | 117,766 | |||||||||||||||||
Third Quarter |
123,512 | 125,510 | 120,201 | 119,182 | 100,259 | |||||||||||||||||
Fourth Quarter |
110,754 | 134,957 | 119,231 | 107,536 | 107,404 | |||||||||||||||||
Total |
586,425 | 546,176 | 527,479 | 475,138 | 451,298 | |||||||||||||||||
Our average sales price of potable water sold to our Retail water customers for the three years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002 are as follows:
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | ||||||||||
| (per 1,000 U.S. gallons) | ||||||||||||
Average Sales Price |
$ | 20.62 | $ | 19.69 | $ | 19.79 | ||||||
BULK WATER OPERATIONS
Our Bulk water segment accounted for 44% of our revenues in 2004 (2003: 37%; 2002: 12%) and is comprised of businesses in the Cayman Islands, Belize, British Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. These businesses produce potable water from seawater and sell this water to governments and private customers.
Bulk Water Operations in the Cayman Islands
In the Cayman Islands, we sell bulk water, through our wholly-owned subsidiary Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited. Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited provides water on a take or pay basis to the Water Authority-Cayman, a government owned utility and regulatory agency, under various licenses and agreements. The Water Authority-Cayman in turn distributes that water to properties in the parts of Grand Cayman that are outside of our retail licensed area. During 2004, we supplied the Water Authority-Cayman with 805.0 million US gallons of water.
As a result of our acquisition of Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, we operate, but do not own, three additional reverse osmosis seawater conversion plants in Grand Cayman with a total installed capacity of 2.9 million U.S. gallons per day: the Red Gate Road plant with a production capacity of 1.3 million U.S. gallons per day, the Lower Valley plant with a production capacity of 792,000 U.S. gallons per day and the North Sound plant with a production capacity of 792,000 U.S. gallons per day. Each of these plants was damaged to varying degrees from Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, and were restored to fully operational status and production capacity in the fourth quarter of 2004. The plants that we operate for Water Authority-Cayman are located on land owned by the Cayman Islands government.
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In April 1994, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, was granted a seven-year water supply license by the government of the Cayman Islands and the Water Authority-Cayman to supply desalinated water from the Red Gate Road plant. In January 2001, this agreement was extended for seven years with effect from December 2001. Under the terms of this license, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited is obligated to deliver to the Water Authority-Cayman the amount of water it demands or 1.2 million U.S. gallons of water per day on average each month, whichever is less.
In June 1997, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, was granted a seven-year water supply license by the government of the Cayman Islands and the Water Authority-Cayman to supply desalinated water from the Lower Valley plant. In August 1999, this agreement was extended with effect from March 1999 until March 2006. Under the terms of this license, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited is obligated to deliver to the Water Authority-Cayman the amount of water it demands or 713,000 U.S. gallons of water per day on average each month, whichever is less. We recently submitted a proposal to the Water Authority-Cayman to increase the capacity of the Lower Valley plant to 1.06 million US gallons per day in exchange for certain pricing changes and a seven-year extension of the license. We have been advised that the offer has been accepted by the Water Authority Board of Directors and we are awaiting confirmation of approval by the Cabinet of the Cayman Islands Government to proceed with the expansion.
In December 2001, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, was granted a seven-year water supply license, with effect from November 2002, by the government of the Cayman Islands and the Water Authority-Cayman to supply desalinated water from the North Sound plant. Under the terms of this license Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited is obligated to deliver to the Water Authority-Cayman the amount of water it demands or 713,000 U.S. gallons of water per day on average each month, whichever is less.
Bulk Water Operations in Belize
In Belize, we sell bulk water through our wholly-owned subsidiary Belize Water Limited which we acquired on July 21, 2000, as Seatec Belize Ltd. and subsequently changed its name to Belize Water Limited. Belize Water Limited provides water under a 23 year agreement to Belize Water Services Ltd. (BWSL), which distributes the water through its own pipe line system to residential, commercial and tourist properties in Ambergris Caye, Belize. During 2004, we supplied BWSL with 110 million U.S. gallons of water.
When we originally acquired Belize Water Limited in July 2000, we were contractually obligated to supply water to Belize Water and Sewerage Authority, a Belize government organization. In early 2001, BWSL, a private company, purchased Belize Water and Sewerage Authority and assumed our contract with the Belize Water and Sewerage Authority.
Belize Water Limited provides potable water from one reverse osmosis seawater conversion plant in Ambergris Caye, Belize, Central America, capable of producing 420,000 U.S. gallons per day, to BWSL, which acquired the operations of the Belize Water and Sewerage Authority in February 2001.
On September 17, 2003 we entered into a 23-year contract with BWSL to supply a minimum of 1.75 million US gallons of water per week, or upon BWSLs demand up to 2.1 million US gallons per week, on a take or pay basis. This contract supercedes our June 26, 1992 contract with BWSL to supply a minimum of 135,000 U.S. gallons of water per day to BWSL. Additionally we are BWSLs exclusive supplier of desalinated water on Ambergris Caye, Belize throughout the term of the contract. The new contract came into effect on June 1, 2004 when all conditions precedent were met or waived. On November 12, 2003, we offered and BWSL accepted a reduced concessionary water rate, effective
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November 1, 2003, which is equal to the water rate that we will charge BWSL under the new agreement. This reduced concessionary rate was charged until the new contract became effective.
This contract terminates on March 23, 2026. However BWSL has the option to advise us no later than six months before the termination date that it wishes to renew the contract for a further 25-year period on the same terms and conditions.
While we own our production plant in Belize, we lease the parcel of land on which our plant is located from the Government of Belize at an annual rent of BZE$1.00. The lease commenced on April 27, 1993 and was extended on January 2, 2004 to a period of 33 years.
The base price of water supplied, and adjustments thereto, are determined by the terms of the contracts, which provide for annual adjustments based upon the movement in the government price indices specified in the contract, as well as monthly adjustments for changes in the cost of diesel fuel and electricity.
We bill on a monthly basis based on metered consumption. Receivables are due within 21 days after the billing date. Interest of 1% per month is charged on any delayed payments.
BWSL distributes our water primarily to residential properties, small hotels, and businesses that serve the tourist market.
We have operated our plant in Belize since July 2000. We believe that water sales in Belize are less cyclical, but on a similar cycle to sales in the Cayman Islands. Although both operations cater to similar tourist markets, Belize has a greater proportion of residents to tourists.
Feed water for the reverse osmosis units is drawn from deep wells with associated pumps on the property. Reject water is discharged into brine wells on the property at a level below that of the feed water intakes.
Electricity to our plant is supplied by Belize Electricity Limited. At the plant site, we maintain a diesel driven, standby generator with sufficient capacity to operate our essential equipment during any temporary interruption in the electricity supply.
Bulk Water Operations in the British Virgin Islands
In the British Virgin Islands, we sell bulk water through our affiliate, Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd., to the Government of the British Virgin Islands Water and Sewerage Department (BVIW&S), which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the islands of Tortola and Jost Van Dyke. During 2004, Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. supplied BVIW&S with 471.0 million U.S. gallons of water.
Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. supplies desalinated water produced from its Baughers Bay desalination plant in Tortola, British Virgin Islands to BVIW&S on a month-to-month basis. On May 31, 1999, the British Virgin Islands Government did not extend the water supply agreement for a seven-year period, and did not make a terminal payment of $1.42 million to Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd., which would have entitled them to take possession of the Baughers Bay plant. On January 28, 2000, the government advised Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. that it considered a water sales arrangement to be in force on a monthly basis until negotiations for a new agreement could be concluded. Negotiations on the terms of a new agreement have not proceeded since our acquisition of interests in Ocean Conversion
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(BVI) Ltd. We are presently awaiting an indication from government that they wish to meet to discuss the terms of a new agreement.
Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd.s Baughers Bay plant was expanded in December 2003 to a capacity of 1.7 million U.S. Gallons per day. The plant is a seawater reverse osmosis plant with an advanced energy recovery system. Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. generates its own electrical power on site using two large Caterpillar diesel driven generator units. Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. also purchases electricity from the BVI Electric Co. to power ancillary equipment and provide building lighting.
Our wholly-owned subsidiary, DesalCo Limited, provides certain senior management as well as other management and engineering services to Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. in the form of accounting services, personnel management and plant management for a monthly fee of $20,500. DesalCo Limited also receives a bonus of 4% of the annual net operating income of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd.
Under the Articles of Association of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd., we appoint three of the six directors of the company. Sage Water Holdings (BVI) Limited, which owns the remaining 50% of the issued and outstanding voting shares, is entitled to appoint the remaining three directors. If there is a tied vote on any matter, the President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association will be entitled to appoint a junior director to break the tie.
On February 7, 2003, we completed our purchase of 50% of the issued and outstanding voting stock, certain profit sharing rights and all of the non-voting shares of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. Also on that date we surrendered 18.2% of our profit sharing rights for 45,000 non-voting shares of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. On May 9, 2003 we sold all of our non-voting shares of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. to Sage Water Holdings (BVI) Limited. We now own 50% of the voting shares and 50% of the profit sharing rights of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd.
We account for our interests in Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. using the equity investment method, and therefore the operating results of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. are not consolidated in our financial statements. Income from this equity investment has been included in our bulk water operations segment, since the business of Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. is similar to the business of our bulk water operations segment.
Bulk Water Operations in the Bahamas
In the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, we sell bulk water through our majority-owned subsidiary, Waterfields Company Limited, to the Water and Sewerage Corporation of the Bahamas (WSC), which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the island of New Providence. During 2004, Waterfields Company Limited supplied WSC with 831 million U.S. gallons of water.
As a result of our acquisition of DesalCo Limited on February 7, 2003, we acquired a 12.7% interest in Waterfields Company Limited. On July 30, 2003, we acquired a further 13.5% of Waterfields and effective August 1, 2003, acquired an additional 64.7% interest resulting in total controlling interest of 90.9% of Waterfields.
We supply bulk water to WSC from our Windsor Plant under the terms of a 15-year water supply agreement dated May 7, 1996. We are required under this agreement to provide WSC with at least 16.8 million US gallons per week of potable water, and WSC has contracted to purchase at least that amount from us on a take-or-pay basis. The water supply agreement expires on the later of March 1, 2013 or after
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the plant has produced approximately 13.1 billion U.S. gallons of water. At the conclusion of the initial term of the water supply agreement, WSC has the following options:
| | extend the term of the agreement for an additional five years at a reduced rate specified in the agreement; | |||
| | exercise a right of first refusal to purchase any materials, equipment and facilities that Waterfields intends to remove from the site, and negotiate a purchase price with Waterfields; or | |||
| | require Waterfields to remove all materials, equipment and facilities from the site. | |||
During 2004, we experienced various equipment failures and operational problems, which caused us to incur penalties for not supplying minimum water volumes to WSC. We also incurred penalties for not meeting the diesel fuel and electricity efficiencies specified in our water sale agreement with WSC. These penalties totaled $313,408 in 2004. We have undertaken a program to replace certain equipment prone to repetitive failure and reduce the fouling tendency of the feed water to the plant.
Feed water for the reverse osmosis unit is drawn from deep wells with associated pumps on the property. Reject water is discharged into brine wells on the property at a deeper level than the feed water intakes.
Electricity to our plants is supplied by Bahamas Electricity Corporation. We maintain a standby generator with sufficient capacity to operate essential equipment at our Windsor Plant and are able to produce water with this plant during any temporary interruptions in the electricity supply.
On February 16, 2005, the Honorable Bradley Roberts, Minister of Works and Utilities of the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, announced at a press conference in the Bahamas that the Bahamas government accepted the bid of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (the Company) to build a new seawater desalination plant (the Blue Hills Plant) on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. Although not part of the Blue Hills Plant bid, the Company will also expand the Companys existing seawater desalination plant (the Windsor Plant) on the island of New Providence. On March 11, 2005, the Water and Sewerage Corporation (the WSC) of the Bahamas delivered a formal letter of acceptance (the Letter) of the Companys bid to the Company and Waterfields Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Company incorporated in the Bahamas (Waterfields). On April 11, 2005, the Company and Waterfields accepted the terms set forth in the Letter relating to the construction of the Blue Hills Plant and delivered the Letter to WSC.
When completed, the Company expects that the Blue Hills Plant will produce 7.2 million U.S. gallons potable water per day and will be the Companys largest seawater conversion facility. The Companys expansion of the Windsor Plant will increase the capacity of the Windsor Plant by approximately 40%, to approximately 3.6 million U.S. gallons of potable water per day. As part of its agreement with WSC, the Company is required to provide engineering services and equipment to reduce the amount of water that is lost throughout WSCs pipeline distribution system on New Providence.
On March 10, 2005, Biwater International Limited, a corporation which was unsuccessful in its bid for the construction of the Blue Hills Plant, and Biwater Bahamas Limited (BBL) filed an application with the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Bahamas for judicial review of WSCs award for the construction of the Blue Hills Plant to the Company. The unsuccessful bidder and BBL are seeking an order from the court rescinding the award to the Company of the Blue Hills Plant construction project and an order awarding the project to the unsuccessful bidder. In the alternative, the unsuccessful bidder and BBL are seeking an order from the court awarding compensatory and exemplary damages to them. The Company is not a party to this action.
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The Company and Waterfields have taken preliminary steps to perform under their agreement with WSC. WSC has entered into an agreement to indemnify the Company and Waterfields against all expenses and losses incurred by the Company and Waterfields, including loss of profits, which the Company and Waterfields may incur if the court were to award the Blue Hills Plant construction project to Biwater International Limited.
In order to finance the construction of the Blue Hills Plant and the expansion of the Windsor Plant, the Company has retained Nassau-based Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (Fidelity) and its affiliated companies to serve as the Companys financial advisor and placement agent to explore a public offering outside of the United States of approximately $10 million in Bahamas Depository Receipts (BDRs) and to arrange for approximately $12 million in bank debt and bond financing for the Blue Hills Plant. In addition to the debt financing for the Blue Hills Plant, the Company and Fidelity are also exploring the feasibility of refinancing some or all of the Companys existing bank debt. The Company has agreed to pay Fidelity a placement fee in cash equal to 3% of the aggregate amount of the BDRs which are sold in the Bahamas and 0.5% of the aggregate amount of the bank debt financing obtained. Terms and fees for the bond financing are currently being negotiated. There can be no assurances that the BDR financing will be completed or that the debt financing will be obtained. The successful completion of the contemplated BDR financing is dependent upon several factors, including the outcome of the unsuccessful bidders attempt to obtain an injunction from the Bahamian court, the absence of adverse changes to the Companys business or financial condition and the prevailing securities market conditions at the time the BDRs are marketed in the Bahamas.
Bulk Water Demand and Average Sales Price
The table below lists the total volume of water we supplied on a quarterly basis for the four years ended December 31, 2004 to all of our Bulk water customers:
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | |||||||||||||
| (in thousands of U.S. gallons) | ||||||||||||||||
First Quarter |
438,851 | 133,682 | 24,751 | 24,589 | ||||||||||||
Second Quarter |
458,455 | 208,107 | 30,206 | 26,519 | ||||||||||||
Third Quarter |
424,665 | 345,307 | 30,028 | 21,404 | ||||||||||||
Fourth Quarter |
424,434 | 414,404 | 27,552 | 21,266 | ||||||||||||
Total |
1,746,405 | 1,101,500 | 112,537 | 93,778 | ||||||||||||
Our average sales of potable water sold to our Bulk water customers for the three years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002 are as follows:
| 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | ||||||||||
| (per 1,000 U.S. gallons) | ||||||||||||
Average Sales Price |
$ | 5.90 | $ | 6.97 | $ | 13.07 | ||||||
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SERVICES OPERATIONS
Engineering and Management Services Operations acquired through DesalCo Limited
As a result of our acquisition of DesalCo Limited effective February 1, 2003, we provide management, engineering and construction services for desalination projects and are the exclusive agents for sales of DWEER energy recovery systems for desalination plants in the Caribbean basin until October 2009. DesalCo Limited, which is recognized by suppliers as an original equipment manufacturer of reverse osmosis seawater desalination plants, also acts as the purchasing agent for all companies affiliated with our company.
In 2003, DWEER Technology Ltd. (DWEER Tech), the owner of the DWEER technology, licensed the world-wide rights to the DWEER technology to Calder AG, a Swiss company. On February 26, 2004 we entered into a new exclusive Caribbean distributorship agreement with Calder AG for the DWEER technology, and amended the terms of our distributorship agreement with DWEER Tech. The Calder agreement supercedes our agreement with DWEER Tech, and contains terms comparable to the DWEER Tech agreement.
Service Operations in Barbados
Effective February 1, 2003, we acquired all of the issued and outstanding stock of DesalCo Limited. DesalCo Limited owns all of the issued and outstanding stock of DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd., a Barbados company, which operates a desalination plant for Sandy Lane Properties Ltd. in St. James, Barbados. As a result of our acquisition of DesalCo Limited, we acquired control of its wholly-owned subsidiary, DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd.
Under the terms of a supply and operating agreement with Sandy Lane Properties Ltd., DesalCo Limited constructed and operates a seawater desalination plant, which provides irrigation water for several golf courses on the Sandy Lane Resort in St. James, Barbados. The plant and property are owned by Sandy Lane Properties Ltd. and DesalCo Limited operates the plant under the terms of a five-year operating agreement, which expires in January 2006. We are not currently in discussions with Sandy Lane to extend the term of this operating agreement, but intend to hold such discussions at some point in the future. In 2004 and 2003, the Sandy Lane Operating agreement generated revenues of $402,631 and $397,929, respectively. Sandy Lane Properties Ltd. has the option to cancel the operating agreement with three months prior notice to DesalCo Limited, subject to certain penalties for early termination of the operating agreement. The operating agreement was assigned to DesalCo Limiteds wholly-owned subsidiary, DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd., in January 2001 and DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd. pays a monthly assignment fee to DesalCo Limited equal to 8% of the gross revenue received under the operating agreement. DesalCo Limited also provides certain engineering services and pays a portion of the plant managers salary in exchange for a management fee of $12,437 per month and reimbursement of expenses. This management fee was reduced in May 2003 from approximately $14,700 per month.
OTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THE COMPANYS BUSINESS
Wastewater Services in the Cayman Islands
We began providing sewerage services on Grand Cayman in 1973. In 1987, the Cayman Islands government, through Water Authority-Cayman, constructed a public sewerage system in part of the Seven Mile Beach area where Governors Harbour is located. In 1988, Water Authority-Cayman began
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processing sewage delivered by the pipelines and lift stations in that area and we stopped our processing of sewage. Water Authority-Cayman currently directly bills our former sewerage customers for its services. In October 2001, we reached an agreement with the Water Authority-Cayman pursuant to which Water Authority-Cayman assumed, in November 2002, the operation of two remaining sewage lift stations, which we had operated. No revenue was earned for wastewater services during the three years ended December 31, 2004.
The Government in the Cayman Islands, Customs Duties and Taxes
The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom and have had a stable political climate since 1670, when the Cayman Islands were ceded to England by the Treaty of Madrid. The Queen of England appoints the Governor of the Cayman Islands to make laws with the advice and consent of the legislative assembly. There are 15 elected members of the legislative assembly and three members appointed by the Governor from the Civil Service. The Cabinet is responsible for day-to-day government operations. The Cabinet consists of five ministers who are chosen by the legislative assembly from its 15 popularly elected members, and the three Civil Service members. The Governor has reserved powers and the United Kingdom retains full control over foreign affairs and defense. The Cayman Islands are a common law jurisdiction and have adopted a legal system similar to that of the United Kingdom.
We have exemptions from, or receive concessionary rates of, customs duties on capital expenditures on plant and major consumable spares and supplies imported into the Cayman Islands as follows:
| | there are no local taxes on profit, income, distributions, capital gains or appreciations of our company in the Cayman Islands; | |||
| | we do not pay any import duty or taxes on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, electric pumps and motors and chemicals, and we pay duty at the rate of 10% of the cost, including insurance and transportation to the Cayman Islands, of other plant and associated materials and equipment to manufacture or supply water in Seven Mile Beach or West Bay areas; and | |||
| | Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited pays all customs duties up to 10% in respect of materials and supplies imported for the Red Gate plant and is reimbursed amounts in excess of this by Water Authority-Cayman. | |||
A major source of revenue to the Cayman Islands government is a 7.5% or 9% stamp tax, depending on location, on the transfer of ownership of land in the Cayman Islands. During the period of November 14, 2001 to date the stamp tax rate is temporarily set at 5%. To prevent stamp tax avoidance by transfer of ownership of the shares of a company, which owns land in the Cayman Islands (as opposed to transfer of the land itself), The Land Holding Companies (Share Transfer Tax) Law was passed in 1976. The effect of this law is to charge a company, which owns land or an interest in land in the Cayman Islands, a tax based on the value of its land or interest in land attributable to each share transferred. The stamp tax calculation does not take into account the proportion which the value of a companys Cayman land or interest bears to its total assets and whether the intention of the transfer is to transfer ownership or part of a companys entire business or a part of its Cayman land or interest.
Prior to our ordinary shares becoming quoted in the United States, we paid this tax on private share transfers. We have never paid the tax on transfers of our publicly traded shares. Since 1994, we requested that the Cayman Islands government exempt us from the share transfer tax. On April 10, 2003, we received notice that the Cayman Islands government had granted an exemption from taxation for all transfers of our shares. We believe it is unlikely that government will seek to collect this tax on transfers of our publicly traded shares during 1994 through April 10, 2003.
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The Government in the Bahamas, Customs Duty, and Taxes
The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a constitutional parliamentary democracy with the Queen of England as the constitutional head of state. The basis of Bahamian law and legal system is the English common law tradition with a Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and a Magistrate court.
We have not been granted any tax exemptions for our Bahamian operations. Bahamian companies are subject to an annual business license fee ranging from 1% to 2% of their gross revenues. We did not pay any business license fees to the Bahamian government in respect of our Bimini retail water operations since commencement of operations on July 11, 2001, other than National Insurance Board tax on our employees. We estimate our potential tax liability based on our gross revenues earned from commencement of operations to be less than $7,500.
The Government in Belize, Customs Duty, and Taxes
Belize (formerly British Honduras) achieved full independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. Today, Belize is a constitutional monarchy with the adoption of a constitution in 1991. Based on the British model with three independent branches, the Queen of England is the constitutional head of state, represented by a Governor General in the government. A prime minister and cabinet make up the executive branch, while a 29 member elected House of Representatives and a nine member appointed Senate form a bicameral legislature. The cabinet consists of a prime minister, other ministers and ministers of state who are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister, who has the support of the majority party in the House of Representatives. Belize is an English common law jurisdiction with a Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and local Magistrate Courts.
The Government of Belize has exempted Belize Water Limited from certain customs duties and all revenue replacement duties until April 18, 2026, and company taxes until January 28, 2006. Belize levies a gross receipts tax on corporations at a rate varying between 0.75% and 25%, depending on the type of business, and a corporate income tax at a rate of 25% of chargeable income. Gross receipts tax payable amounts are credited towards corporate income tax. The Government of Belize recently increased certain business and personal taxes and created new taxes effective March 1, 2005. We are presently assessing whether these increases will have any impact on our business. Under the old tax structure we believe our business would be subject to a 1.25% gross receipts tax and income tax without our exemption. Belize levies import duty on most imported items at rates varying between 0% and 45%, with most items attracting a rate of 20%. While the Government of Belize confirmed its commitment in a letter dated June 29, 1992 from the Financial Secretary of Belize to support all future applications for extensions or additional tax exemptions for the life of our water supply contract, future exemptions must be approved by the Belizean legislature and we cannot give any assurance that we will be granted any further tax exemptions after January 28, 2006.
The Government in the British Virgin Islands and Customs, Duties and Taxes
The British Virgin Islands is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom that was first settled by the Dutch in 1648 and annexed by the British in 1672. It adopted a constitution in 1977 and is now a constitutional democracy with three branches of government: the Executive Council, the Judiciary and the Legislative Council. Executive authority is vested in the Queen of England, exercised through her representative, the Governor. The Governor has responsibility for the courts, public service, police, and foreign affairs and full policy-making authority. The Governor is not a member of the Executive Council but receives assistance with the day-to-day operations of the government. The Executive Council is made up of various members of the legislature. The Parliament or Legislative Council is made up of thirteen
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(13) seats with members elected by popular vote, serving up to but no more than four-year terms. The British Virgin Islands are an English common law jurisdiction with a Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Magistrates Court.
The British Virgin Islands imposes a corporate income tax at a rate of 15% of net income. However, Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. received an exemption, under the water supply agreement with the British Virgin Islands government, from all taxes, duties, levies and impositions on items, which it imports for the Baughers Bay plant. As of January 1, 2005, the British Virgin Islands government instituted a payroll tax of which we are currently responsible for a 6% employer contribution.
The Government in Barbados and Customs, Duties and Taxes
Barbados is an independent island nation that was initially occupied by the British in 1627. It remained a British colony until 1961 when it was granted internal autonomy. Barbados gained full independence in 1966 but remains a member of the British Commonwealth that appoints the Governor General. The Governor General approves members of the Cabinet on the advice of the prime minister. The parliament consists of the senate whose 21 members are appointed by the Governor General and the assembly whose 30 members are popularly elected to five-year terms. Barbados is an English common law jurisdiction with a Supreme Court.
The net income of DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd. is subject to a 33% Barbados corporate tax, and all dividend payments and supplier payments are subject to a Barbados withholding tax of 15%. DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd. pays for all customs duties due on parts and equipment for the plant since a concession on such duties held by Sandy Lane Properties Ltd. expired in March 2004. Value added taxes are paid by Sandy Lane Properties Ltd. DesalCo (Barbados) Ltd. has made all necessary tax filing and payments.
Government Regulation
In the Cayman Islands, we are regulated by the Water Authority-Cayman on behalf of the Cayman Islands Government and believe that our operations comply with all local laws and regulations.
We have received confirmation from the Public Utilities Commission of Belize that they approve of the terms and conditions of our new contract with Belize Water Services Limited. We believe that our operations in Belize comply with all other local laws and regulations.
We believe that our operations in the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and Barbados comply with all local laws and regulations, and we are currently reviewing our Bahamian tax status as it relates to our Bimini operation, as discussed above.
Market and Service Area
Although we currently operate in the Cayman Islands, Belize, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, we believe that our potential market consists of any location where there is a need for potable water. The desalination of seawater, either through distillation or reverse osmosis, is the most widely used process for producing fresh water in areas with an insufficient natural supply. We believe our experience in the development and operation of distillation and reverse osmosis desalination plants as well as our exclusive rights in the Caribbean to the DWEER energy recovery system provides us with a significant opportunity to successfully expand our operations beyond the markets in which we currently operate.
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Prior to our acquisition of Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited in February 2003, the market that we serviced under our exclusive license in the Cayman Islands consisted of Seven Mile Beach and West Bay, Grand Cayman, two of the three most populated areas in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands Government, through Water Authority-Cayman, supplies water to parts of Grand Cayman, which are not within our licensed area, as well as to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. As a result of our acquisition of Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited, we operate all the reverse osmosis desalination plants of Water Authority-Cayman on Grand Cayman and supply water under licenses and supply agreements held by Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited with Water-Authority Cayman.
According to the most recent figures published by the Economics and Statistics Office of the Cayman Islands Government, the population of the Cayman Islands was estimated in July 2004 to be approximately 43,000. The figures normally published by the Cayman Islands Government Department of Tourism are not available after August 2004 because of the disruption caused by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. During the eight months ended August 31, 2004 tourist air arrivals increased by 13.5% and tourists cruise ship arrivals increased 11.5% over the same eight-month period in 2003. Total visitors for the eight-month period increased to 1.5 million persons for the eight-months ended August 31, 2004 from 1.4 million during the eight-months ended August 31, 2003. We believe that our water sales in the Cayman Islands are more positively impacted by tourists that arrive by air than by those arriving by cruise ship, since cruise ship tourists generally only remain on island for one day or less.
During 2004, construction progressed within our license area on the 360-room Ritz Carlton Hotel, condominiums and golf course development. The developer of this project has revised an anticipated completion date to May 2006 because of the disruption caused by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Until July 2004, we were in discussions with the developer to provide non-potable, irrigation water to the proposed Ritz Carlton 9-hole golf course. We believe that the developer has now received permission from the Cayman Islands Government to install its own equipment to produce non-potable, irrigation water for the golf course and discussions with us have stopped. However the developer will be required to purchase potable water from us for the hotel and condominiums under the terms of our exclusive license agreement. We are not currently aware of any similar large developments in the final planning stages or under construction within our service area in the Cayman Islands.
During 2002, the government of the Cayman Islands amended the Development and Planning Law to permit construction of buildings up to seven stories in certain zones within our license area, including commercial and hotel zones. Previously, buildings in these zones were only permitted to be built to five stories. We believe that this change in the law will facilitate the development of certain properties within our license area that may have otherwise not developed under the old height restriction, and it has already facilitated the re-development of three existing properties, which have been demolished and being re-built as multi-story structures.
Our current operations in Belize are located on Ambergris Caye, which consists of residential, commercial and tourist properties in the town of San Pedro. This town is located on the southern end of Ambergris Caye. Ambergris Caye is one of many islands located east of the Belize mainland and off the southeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. Ambergris Caye is approximately 25 miles long and, according to the Belize National Population Census 2000, has a population of about 4,500 residents, which has increased approximately 144% over the past ten years. We provide bulk potable water to Belize Water Services Limited, which distributes this water to this market. Belize Water Services Limited (BWSL) currently has no other source of potable water on Ambergris Caye. Our new contract with BWSL makes us their exclusive producer of desalinated water on Ambergris Caye though 2026.
A 185 mile long barrier reef, which is the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, is situated just offshore of Ambergris Caye. This natural attraction is becoming a choice destination for
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scuba divers and tourists. According to information published by the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service, tourism is Belizes second largest source of foreign income, next to agriculture.
Our current operations in the Bahamas are located on South Bimini Island and in New Providence. The Bimini Islands consist of North Bimini and South Bimini, and are two of 700 islands which comprise the Bahamas. The Bimini Islands are located approximately 50 miles east of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and are a premier destination for sport fishing enthusiasts. The population of the Bimini Islands is approximately 1,600 persons and the islands have about 200 hotel and guest rooms available for tourists. The total land area of the Bimini Islands is approximately 9 square miles.
New Providence, Lyford Caye and Paradise Island, connected by several bridges, are located approximately 150 miles east southeast of the Bimini Islands. With an area of 151 square miles and a population of approximately 211,000, Nassau is the political capital and the commercial hub of the Bahamas. As the largest city with its famed Cable Beach, it accounts for more than two-thirds of the 4.0 million tourists who visit the Bahamas annually. New Providence is presently experiencing intermittent to severe water shortages and imports about one-half of its water from Andros Island, which lies about 35 miles west of New Providence.
On February 16, 2005, the Hon. Bradley Roberts, Minister of Works and Utilities of the Government of the Bahamas, announced that the Bahamas government accepted our bid to build a new seawater desalination plant (the Blue Hills plant), and to expand its existing seawater desalination plant (the Windsor plant) on the island of New Providence in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. When completed, the Blue Hills plant will be capable of producing 7.2 million US gallons of potable water per day (USgpd) and will be our largest seawater conversion facility. We will also expand the capacity of our existing Windsor plant by almost 40%, to approximately 3.6 million USgpd, under the terms of our contract with WSC. The Blue Hills contract will also require that we provide engineering services and equipment to reduce the amount of water that is lost (due to leakage, theft, etc.) throughout the WSCs pipeline distribution system on New Providence. We are currently negotiating with WSC on the final terms and conditions of the Blue Hills water supply and water loss reduction agreements.
The British Virgin Islands, like the Cayman Islands, are an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom and are situated east of Puerto Rico. They consist of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands, of which Tortola is the largest and most populated island. The islands are the center for many large yacht-chartering businesses.
Barbados, located northeast of Venezuela between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, is an independent sovereign nation member of the British Commonwealth. It has a population of approximately 277,000 and was traditionally known for its cultivation of sugar cane. More recently, the economy has diversified to include tourism and light manufacturing.
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Growth Strategy
Our strategy is to provide water services in areas where the supply of potable water is scarce. We have focused on the Caribbean basin and adjacent areas as our principal market because these areas have: little or no naturally occurring fresh water; limited local regulations and taxes allow for higher returns than most highly regulated countries; and a large proportion of tourist properties, which historically have generated higher volume sales than residential properties.
Our growth strategy is as follows:
| | We intend to continue to develop our production and distribution infrastructure and provide high quality potable water to our licensed area in the Cayman Islands. We have increased our share of the potable water market in the Cayman Islands as a result of our purchase of the Britannia plant and recent acquisition of Ocean Conversion (Cayman). We also intend to explore the feasibility of either acquiring or obtaining the license from the Cayman Islands government to operate Water Authority-Cayman, which supplies water to parts of Grand Cayman, and Cayman Brac and has the right to supply water in Little Cayman. | |||
| | We intend to expand our existing operations in the Cayman Islands, Belize, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. For example, through negotiations with Belize Water Services Limited, we have extended the term of our agreement to 23 years and increased the guaranteed minimum quantities supplied. We intend to seek new water supply agreements for other areas in Belize. Similarly, as the development of resort properties in Bimini continues, we expect to sell more water to additional customers further utilizing our current plant until the installation of a larger plant becomes necessary. In the British Virgin Islands, we expanded the capacity of our existing plant on the island of Tortola from 1.2 million to 1.7 million U.S. gallons per day in December 2003, and we are constructing a second plant on the island of Tortola. | |||
| | We intend to expand our operations to other markets outside of our current areas of operation where there is need for potable water. In addition to our recent acquisitions, we are currently involved in preliminary discussions to operate water-making plants and to supply water in other new markets and may pursue these opportunities either on our own or through joint ventures. So far, we have focused on various locations throughout the Caribbe | |||