Thukten Zangpo 

Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) group contributed Nu 13 billion (B) in dividends, taxes, and royalty to the government in 2021.

In addition to the Nu 13B remitted, DHI has also declared an additional dividend of Nu 3.98B to the government this year which officials said would be remitted soon.

With an additional Nu 3.98B to be remitted to the government, the DHI group would contribute a total of Nu 16.98B.

This would see a growth of over 50 percent in the contribution to the government compared to the previous year. In 2020, the group remitted Nu 11.22B as dividend, taxes, and royalty.

Of the total contribution, the DHI remitted Nu 3B as an advance dividend to the finance ministry and Nu 2.5B as DHI’s standalone taxes in 2021.

The DHI group contributed Nu 7.3B as a tax contribution to the government in 2021, with an effective tax rate (percent of income a corporation pays in taxes) of 52.09 percent in the year.

This is an increase of 30 percent in tax contribution from 2020. In 2020, the group contributed Nu 5.6B to the government.

The group also made a payment of Nu 2.4B as royalty energy and Nu 338.2 million (M) on royalty and mineral rents in 2021. The group made Nu 2.2B as royalty energy and Nu 118.6M as royalty on minerals in 2020.

DHI received Nu 9.1B as dividends from eight companies in the year.

Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) contributed the highest at Nu 4.6B, followed by Nu 1.8B from Bhutan Telecom Limited (BTL).

Dividends from DGPC and BTL increased by Nu 778M and Nu 467M respectively in 2021 from 2020.

DHI also received a dividend of Nu 1.6B from State Mining Corporation Limited, Nu 911M from Bhutan Power Corporation Limited, Nu 104M from Bhutan Ferro Alloys Limited, Nu 52M from Thimphu TechPark Limited, Nu 21M from State Trading Corporation of Bhutan Limited and Nu 3.2M from Menjong Sorig Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited.

According to the DHI, the increase in dividends was because of a remarkable recovery from the pandemic.

The year 2020’s revenue decline by 12.5 percent (Nu 4.96B) saw a growth of 16 percent to Nu 5.6B in 2021. The profit after tax also increased by 83 percent (0r Nu 3B) to Nu 6.7B.

In 2021, the group’s total revenue saw an increase of 16.09 percent at Nu 40.2B in 2021 from the previous year’s Nu 34.7B.

The top revenue generator, the energy and resource segment grew by 36.3 percent from the previous year’s Nu 9.7B to Nu 12.2B.

The trading segment also saw a significant growth of 87.7 percent amounting to Nu. 1.5B.

Unlike in the past year, the manufacturing segment saw an increase in revenue by 7.04 percent, and the transport and communication segment by 0.4 percent contributing Nu 259.1M and Nu 229.7M respectively to the group’s revenue.