Financial performance
Financial performance
Financial performance summary
In the 2021-22 financial year, we recorded year-end profit before tax of $48.1 million. Revenue was $1.36 billion. Some of the contributors to this were:
- strong water sales due to warm weather conditions, particularly over the summer months
- significant contributed assets arising from mains extensions contributions, infrastructure assets gifted to us from developers and capital contributions to us for work we perform, as a result of strong development activities across the state
- profit on sale of surplus assets that were not required for ongoing operations.
Total expenses were $1.31 billion. Some of the contributors to this were:
- high pumping volumes and a significant spike in the price of electricity, resulting in high electricity costs
- costs in relation to the Adelaide Service Delivery contracts for production and treatment and field services
- changes to the interpretation of the intangible asset accounting standard that resulted in costs relating to cloud computing being incurred as an operating, rather than capital, expense.
Contributions to government
As a significant revenue contributor to the Government of South Australia, for the broader benefit of the people of South Australia, an amount of $208.9 million was paid in 2021-22.
This saw $72.3 million of business operating expenditure contributed to other government agencies and/or councils through:
- external fees and charges paid to other government agencies
- provision of services delivered by other government agencies
- operational taxes such as land tax or council rates.
Within interest expense, $95 million was paid to the South Australian Financing Authority as guarantee fees and margins. An income tax equivalent of $11.7 million and a dividend of
$29.9 million were also paid.
Capital expenditure
This year, we spent $463.4 million on capital expenditure, with $20.5 million spent on information technology and $442.9 million on infrastructure. Information technology investments continue to focus on improving outcomes for our customers and the business as well as the safety of our people, including:
- improved service channels and customer digital experience
- increased technology security and reliability (including cyber security)
- increased business efficiency and employee experience
- innovative technologies such as smart maintenance, underwater robotics and virtual reality.
We continue to focus on improving our water and wastewater infrastructure assets and invest in major infrastructure projects, all of which have a positive impact on our customers and/or the state. In 2021-22 these included:
- Kangaroo Island Desalination Plant $18.1 million
- Tea Tree Gully Sustainable Sewers $13.0 million
- Morgan to Whyalla pipeline replacement $11.5 million
- Zero Cost Energy Future $11.1 million.
Contributions to government | 2021-22 actuals $’000 |
External fees and charges | 54,294 |
Contract services provided | 992 |
Operational taxes and tax equivalents | 16,990 |
Total contained within operating expenses | 72,276 |
As a percentage of total operating expenses | 11.0% |
Interest Expense – guarantee fees* | 90,670 |
South Australia Government Financing Authority margin fees | 4,295 |
Additional interest paid to owner | 94,965 |
Income tax equivalents | 11,742 |
Dividends at 100% of profit after tax | 29,882 |
Total amounts paid to government | 208,865 |
*Guarantee fees are paid to the Government of South Australia to remove any competitive advantage we might have due to our ability to borrow under the Government of South Australia credit rating.
Consultants
The following is a summary of external consultants engaged, and the nature and cost of the work undertaken.
Consultants | Amount $ | Description/purpose |
Less than $10,000 |
| |
TonyMac Consulting Pty Ltd | 5,093.75 | Advice on the preparation of analysis and framework for enterprise agreement negotiations. |
Frontier | 7,392.00 | Chris 21 health check audit. |
Between $10,000 and $50,000 |
| |
VUCA Pty Ltd | 14,500.00 | Independent review of the SA Water Board performances. |
Greater than $50,000 |
| |
KPMG | 103,605.00 | Independent reviewing of the regulatory revenue model. |
PricewaterhouseCoopers | 75,465.85 | Review of current business practices in payroll team, and tax advice of the application of the national tax equivalent regime. |
Workforce Insight | 266,773.49 | Organisational review and change plan delivery and support. |
Red Wagon Workplace Solutions | 58,864.90 | Advisory service used by Human Resources team. |
