THUNDER BAY — Tbaytel has reported healthy revenues in its 2022 financial results, allowing the city-owned telecom to transfer over $18 million into municipal coffers this year.
The company earned nearly $215 million in revenue in 2022, realizing a net profit of roughly $40 million, according to its financial statements.
The numbers reflected increased usage, with internet traffic up 20 per cent in 2022 for a total of 250 petabytes. That’s the equivalent of streaming 125 million movies on Netflix, the company said.
The mobility provider also sold over 36,000 cell phones.
Tbaytel President and CEO Dan Topatigh described the 2022 financials as a strong performance that has enabled the company to forge ahead with service expansions and enhancements.
“With a dedicated workforce committed to our customers and region, strong financial performance and the trust of our customers throughout northern Ontario, Tbaytel looks forward to another great year in 2023,” he said in a statement.
The company’s dividend to the City of Thunder Bay will exceed $18.2 million on the strength of those results, including a fixed dividend of $18 million and performance dividend of $239,000.
That equates to a property tax reduction of 8.25 per cent for local residents, the company said.
Previously known as Thunder Bay Telephone, the utility operated as a city department until 2004, when it was restructured as an arms-length city-owned corporation.
In 2021, city council approved a gradual increase to the fixed dividend, ramping it up from $18 million a year to $18.75 million by 2025. Council is set to review the policy again this year.
When Tbaytel outperforms its financial plan, the city also receives 25 per cent of net income above projections.
This year’s performance dividend was relatively modest, comparing to previous amounts of $570,000 in 2020 and $2.6 million in 2021.
Tbaytel says it has returned nearly $358 million in dividends to the city since its inception in 2004.
The money is transferred to the city's capital funds where it largely supports infrastructure work.
The company also touted its estimated total economic impact of $145.7 million throughout Thunder Bay and Northern Ontario last year.
Meanwhile, the company’s charitable Tbaytel for Good program was reported to contribute over $416,000 to 118 organizations and events across the region.
The numbers are highlighted in Tbaytel’s 2022 report to the community — entitled Expanding with Stronger Connections — which was released on Tuesday, the day after the company held its AGM and city council approved its financial statements.
In addition to financial results, the report reviews service expansions across the region and new products and services.
That included bringing fibre internet service to over 5,000 new addresses across the region, including in Marathon and outlying areas of Thunder Bay. Some of that work is supported with federal and provincial dollars.
According to Tbaytel, 99.4 per cent of the city of Thunder Bay now has access to its fibre services.
The company also pointed to the introduction of 5G in Thunder Bay and the completion of LTE across its wireless serving territory in 2022.
The company employs more than 400 people.
