B.T.L. holds AGM; but are financial statements accurate?

The annual general meeting of Belize Telemedia Limited is being held tonight at the Princess Hotel.  And if you choose to believe the government appointed directors, the company’s profits for the year have increased by thirty-eight percent.   That’s a whopping profit or a whopping lie. We ran the numbers by accountants versed in that industry: they point out a number of things. Firstly, consumers should take a closer look at page seventeen of the Directors Report.  The Directors, by including operating income into revenue, are claiming that revenue increased by eight percent.

A closer look at the Consolidated Financial Statements is also very revealing.  Under note sixteen they describe the operating income of thirteen point five million dollars as being the result of a change in the treatment of tax on internet revenue. According to our source, that should not be revenue, nor is it related to the current year’s performance.  Without that entry, the revenue and profit for the current year would show significantly worsening performance in both, and not an improvement. What’s the justification for this? If the PM is in fact gearing up for an election early next year, then B.T.L. on which the U.D.P. government gambled much political capital, must be seen to be a success. But the people that should worry most are Belizean taxpayers whose Social Security money have gone into B.T.L.  Another concern for taxpayers is why directors have hidden their remuneration and private contracts in the financial statements, while hiring loads of political cronies.