By Staff Writer, Guardian News Desk

erica@nasguard.com

Cayman-based Consolidated Water Co Ltd (Nasdaq: CWCO) reported third quarter revenues of "approximately" $10 million yesterday.

The company attributed its results for the quarter, ended September 30, to the positive performance of its Nassau and Cayman plants.

"We are pleased to report another quarter of solid growth in revenues, gross profits, and net income as compared to the same quarter of last year," said the company's president and CEO Rick McTaggart in a press statement. "Our results for the third quarter of 2006 reflect the initial sales of our new Blue Hills plant in Nassau following its commissioning in July, along with continued strength in retail water sales in the Cayman islands," McTaggart added.

The company's reported $10 million in revenues for the quarter reflected a 61 percent increase over third quarter revenues for 2005 which were $6.2 million.

CWCO's net income also increased 24 percent to $1, 247,040, or $0.10 per diluted share, over third quarter figures for 2005 which stood at $1,009,349 or $0.08 per diluted share.

The company also reported that its retail water sales were $4.1 million, up 38 percent over the $3.0 million in the third quarter of 2005. Bulk water sales were $5.1 million, up 79 percent over the $2.9 million figure for the third quarter in 2005.

Revenues from sales were more than doubled to $746, 407 for the third quarter compared to $328, 550 for third quarter in 2005.

Gross margin on retail sales also improved 65 percent for third quarter this year, compared to the 56 percent improvement recorded for third quarter last year. The gross margin on bulk sales remained stable at 15 percent for a second consecutive third quarter. The company said it was able to achieve this despite a $305,000 charge associated with the write-off of infrastructure associated with portable production units previously installed at the Windsor plant in The Bahamas. "The Company decided to transfer these units to Grand Cayman during the quarter to address the increased demand for water in the market," according to the company's press statement.

The company also gave an overview of its performance for the three quarters this year, reporting total revenues of $28.9 million, which is a 54 percent increase over their revenue performance for the three quarters last year when it was $18.8 million.

Net income for the three quarters is reported to be $6,847,079, up 77 percent over the $3,864,760 reported for the first three quarters in 2005.

During a conference call yesterday, the company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.60 per share, payable January 31, 2007 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2007.

CWCO representatives also reported during the conference that its positive performance also depended heavily on the fact that few hurricanes have affected the region this season.