Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. delivers growth, creating meaningful savings, reliability, and long-term value for customers.

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Feb. 17, 2026 /CNW/ - Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. ("CUC" or the "Company") announced its audited results for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 ("Fiscal 2025") (all figures are in United States Dollars).

 KEY HIGHLIGHTS FOR SHAREHOLDERS

• Earnings: 11% increase totaling $47.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.
• Innovation: The successful implementation and utilization of the Battery Energy Storage System ("BESS") and the life cycle upgrades to five major engines delivered measurable cost savings and efficiency gains for customers.
• Shareholder Value: Earnings on Class A ordinary shares for fiscal 2025 were $46.3 million.
• Customer Affordability and Reliability: Achieved $7.9 million in fuel cost savings for customers in 2025 and reduced outage interruption hours by 33% when compared to 2024.  Reliability performance in 2024 exceeded the North American average, and results in 2025 continue to outperform that benchmark.
• Revised S&P Global Rating: Rating improved from negative to stable outlook.
• In May 2025, the Board approved a 3% dividend increase, raising the quarterly dividend from$0.185 to $0.190 per Class A Share, reflecting the Company's continued financial strength and commitment to delivering long term value to shareholders.

"As we close out the financial year, I am proud of the strong results we have achieved while staying focused on what matters most - delivering a resilient and equitable energy system for the households and businesses we serve. Our disciplined approach and strategic investments have advanced key projects that improve efficiency, enable renewable deployment, and reduce costs. These efforts not only strengthen our financial performance but also ensure that we are building a more sustainable and affordable energy future for the Grand Cayman community," said President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") Mr. Richard Hew.

FINANCIAL GROWTH

In Fiscal 2025, capital expenditures for the Company were $88.9 million. These expenditures were in aid of construction for various projects. Net earnings for Fiscal 2025 were $47.4 million, a $4.7 million increase from Fiscal 2024. This increase was driven by 2% growth in overall customer numbers and an increase in large commercial customers. The Cayman Islands continues to experience economic development through the expansion of tourism, health and commercial related developments. In May 2025, the Board approved a 3% dividend increase, raising it from $0.185 to $0.190 per Class A Ordinary Share. 

CUSTOMER AFFORDABILITY

Through the successful execution of two major initiatives — the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and the life cycle upgrade ("LCU") project — the Company achieved a 13% reduction in the average fuel cost charge for customers. In 2025, these projects saved 1.3 million imperial gallons of fuel, boosted fleet efficiency by 3.2%, and delivered US$7.9 million in fuel savings. This reduction highlights the tangible value delivered by these projects, generating meaningful cost savings for customers. Fuel factor and renewable energy costs are a pass-through at cost to customers.

In November 2025, the Economic and Statistics Office ("ESO") released its third quarter Consumer Price Index ("CPI") Report, noting that overall inflationary pressures in the Cayman Islands remained broadly subdued. The report highlighted decreases in housing, utility, and fuel costs. As the sole energy provider in Grand Cayman, this is particularly significant, and highlights that CUC's investment in efficiency, infrastructure, and sustainable energy initiatives is delivering cost savings for customers.  Energy remains the foundation of the Cayman Islands, and these reductions underscore the sector's vital role in driving affordability, ensuring stability, and strengthening resilience across the broader economy. 

KEY UPDATES: SUSTAINABILITY AND RELIABILITY

On November 3, 2025, CUC released its inaugural Green Finance Report and Sustainability Update Report. The Green Finance Report outlined how funds raised through green financing in May 2024 have been allocated to eligible sustainability projects across the Company's operations. The Sustainability Update Report highlights CUC's sustainability progress while remaining resolute in our plans for supporting the achievements of targets outlined in the Cayman Islands National Energy Policy ("NEP"). The Reports underscore CUC's commitment to transparency and accountability by clearly linking investment to environmental outcomes and its fundamental role in realizing the Government's ambitions.

CUC's Green Financing Framework - independently rated "Excellent" by Sustainable Fitch - provides the foundation for this approach. Developed in line with international best practices, the Framework guides the issuance of Green Bonds, loans, and other instruments to support renewable energy, climate adaptation, energy efficiency, and clean transportation projects.

Key highlights from the 2025 Green Financing Report include:

• US$50 million invested in green projects (May 2022 – May 2025)
• An estimated reduction of 8,512 metric tons of CO ₂
• Alignment with global standards such as International Capital Market Association's Green Bond Principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Two areas of focus in CUC's strategy relate to: increasing renewable energy capacity and grid efficiency to keep power affordable and strengthening infrastructure to ensure reliability and resilience.

The Company delivered outstanding system reliability performance in Fiscal 2025, surpassing targets and demonstrating the strong impact of investments. Average Duration of service interruption that each customer experienced in 2025 was 1.3 hours compared to 1.8 hours in 2024.  Similarly, the Frequency of outages per customer was 1.2 instances this year compared to 2.4 instances in 2024.  These results mark sustained year over year progress, with outages reduced by nearly 8% and total customer interruption hours cut by more than 33%. These improvements highlight meaningful operational gains and reinforce the Company's commitment to delivering reliable, high-quality service to our customers.

CUC's Annual 2025 results and related Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") are attached to this release and incorporated by reference. The MD&A section of this report contains a discussion of CUC's 2025 results for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2025, the Cayman Islands' economy, liquidity and capital resources, capital expenditures and the business risks facing the Company. The release and 2025 audited annual results 2025 MD&A can be accessed at www.cuccayman.com (Investor Relations/Press Releases) and at www.sedarplus.ca. The principal activity of the Company is to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity in its licence area of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands pursuant to a 20-year Transmission & Distribution ("T&D") Licence and a 25-year non-exclusive Generation Licence (the "Generation Licence" and together with the T&D licence, the "Licences") granted by the Cayman Islands Government (the "Government", "CIG"). The T&D Licence, which expires in April 2028, contains provisions for an automatic 20-year renewal and the Company has reasonable expectation of renewal until April 2048. The Generation Licence expires in November 2039. Further information is available at www.cuc-cayman.com.

Certain statements in the MD&A, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations with respect to the Company and its operations, including its strategy and financial performance and condition. Forward looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plan", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts", "schedule", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". Forward looking statements are based on underlying assumptions and management's beliefs, estimates and opinions, and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally that may cause actual results to vary from plans, targets and estimates. Some of the important risks and uncertainties that could affect forward looking statements are described in the MD&A in the section labelled "Business Risks" and include but are not limited to operational, general economic, market and business conditions, regulatory developments and weather. CUC cautions readers that actual results may vary significantly from those expected should certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.

SOURCE Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd.