The ESB's networks division, the monopoly which manages the electricity network, was the biggest contributor to the company's bottom line last year.

The ESB's 2004 annual report and accounts, which were due to be released officially this week, show the networks division turning in a profit before interest and tax of €254 million, up from €216 million, a 17.5 per cent increase.

The company's overall profit, before interest and tax, was €398 million on turnover from continuing operations of €2.4 billion. The company has refused to comment on any of the figures and said questions relating to the accounts could only be answered after they were officially released.

The annual report shows that while pretax profits were up from €302 million to €314 million, the ESB is facing some competitive challenges. The market share of its customer supply business, effectively its sales arm, dropped in 2004 from 69 per cent to 64 per cent. This reflected a loss of over 43,000 customers. There was a drop in profits at this division from €88 million to €76 million in 2004.

Total employee costs at the company were up from €644 million to €666 million, mainly because of a rise in salaries. The company is now employing 9,289 people, down from 9,587 the year before. Based on the total employees costs this works out at €71,000 in salaries, pension and other payroll benefits, per employee.

It appears the networks division will remain a key unit within the company in future. ESB Networks is responsible for maintaining all the sub-transmission, medium and low voltage electricity network infrastructure in the country.

This includes all overhead electricity lines, poles and underground cables.