The Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), the commercial arm of the government, has reported an increase in its revenue of over Nu 5.5bn in 2022 compared to the previous year. According to a news release from the DHI, the increase in revenue reflects the significant return on investment and improved financial performance across all sectors in which the DHI’s companies operate.
The increase in revenue from over Nu 40bn in the financial year 2021 to almost Nu 46bn a year later is mainly attributed to growth in revenue from customers through the sales of services and trading goods.
Revenue from customers alone accounted for almost Nu 4bn to the total revenue increase.
Among the DHI companies, the energy and resources segment is the top revenue generator amounting to over 50 per cent of the total revenue.
Bhutan Power Corporation reported over Nu 800 M in profits, while State Mining Corporation reported almost Nu 2bn in profits.
Meanwhile, the Druk Green Power Corporation reported a profit of over Nu 4.6bn. This is a decline of almost Nu 500 M from the financial year 2021.
The communication and transport segment, which consists of Bhutan Telecom and Drukair Corporation, generated almost Nu 8bn in revenue.
Similarly, in the financial services segment, the Bank of Bhutan, Bhutan National Bank, and the Royal Insurance Corporation posted a net profit of almost Nu 700 M. While the companies in the IT and real estate, and manufacturing segments struggled to report profits as expected, in the trading segment, the State Trading Corporation registered a net profit of almost Nu 60 M.
According to the annual report, the DHI companies’ total expenditures rose by almost Nu 7bn for the financial year 2022 leading to a reduction in profit after tax by almost Nu 2bn.
Despite the decrease in profits, the DHI group paid a total tax on revenue of over eight Nu 8bn for the financial year 2022, which is an increase of over 10 per cent from the preceding year.
The annual report also states that as part of investments in the overseas market, the DHI invested over USD 17 M in the global equity and futures market, emerging market, and to start DHI Pte Limited based in Singapore.
Sherub Dorji & Ugyen Dorji
