Bermuda telecommunications group KeyTech yesterday announced net income of $10 million for the year ended March 31, 2005.

KeyTech ? which owns BTC, Mobility, Logic Communications and holds stakes in Bermuda CableVision and QuoVadis ? said its profit broke down to just over $0.83 per share.

The $10 million profit was down on KeyTech?s earnings of $11.2 million the year before.

Not included in the profit is a $1.7 million gain KeyTech recouped from its interest in PacketExchange, a company sold in April.

Revenues rose during the period by $3.4 million to $97.3 million, a development offset by operating costs rising $7.8 million to $90. 2 million.

The increase in costs included two one-off costs: $3.6 million in separation and retirement payments tied to 40 voluntary redundancies of long-term employees in connection with a downsizing in certain divisions and a one-time amortisation adjustment of $1.8 million related to Mobility migrating its mobile phone customers from a TDMA to GSM cellular system.

?Our challenge this past year was to better position our companies to compete successfully,? CEO Sheila Manderson said.

She said that included a restructuring of the Bermuda Telephone Company to achieve operational efficiencies and efforts to improve the products and services within its group of companies.

?We invested in a new billing system for Mobility and provided additional cell sites for improved signal coverage. We responded to consumers? demand for lower residential Internet costs and lowered our pricing plans at Logic.

?We invested in QuoVadis (a provider of Information Security and Digital Certificate Technologies) as a synergistic partner to complement our core businesses.

?And we continued to invest in WestTel, our affiliate in the Cayman Islands, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan?.

During the financial year KeyTech invested $16.2 million in capital assets to maintain existing plant, improve its networks and support the provision of new services.

Total equity losses in KeyTech affiliates for the year reached $1.3 million. In comparison total equity earnings in affiliates a year prior were $165,814.

The increase in losses from affiliates was said to be due to fledgeling WestTel?s operations being severely affected last year by the impact of Hurricane Ivan.

Investment income for the year stood at $489,699 in contrast to $2.7 million the year before when KeyTech realised a $2.2 million gain from the sale of its Bank of Bermuda shares.

Other income for the year added up to $4 million, including a return of surplus assets from The Bermuda Telephone Company defined benefit pension fund which is in run-off.

Losses attributable to discontinued operations were $273,057 for the year and $803,017 in the prior year.

The company announced a dividend of 15 cents per share payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on July 5.

The company will hold its AGM on July 22, at 4 p.m. A location was not disclosed but the company said it expects to notify shareholders on July 5.