top of page
Search
Wessex retains dividend to support resilience and investment
(by Verity Mitchell) Wessex Water has reported full-year results with revenues of £797.5m up from £652.6m, and operating profit up 51% to 249.2m driven by increased regulatory allowances. Profit before tax increased 463% to £95.8m. Capex was £447m, up 6.7%. Management said it was "on track to deliver the [AMP8] programme,” despite the doubling of its size compared to AMP7. The company did not declare a dividend for 2025-2026. Management said "this reflects the shareholders’ c
-
Jul 192 min read
South East Water reports significant losses
(by Verity Mitchell) South East Water has reported full-year results. It said 2025-2026 had been a "tough year operationally and financially”. Revenues were £351.8m, up £66.3m (19%) from new regulatory allowances. Operating profit fell to £30.4m from £54.5m because of £54.7m of water supply interruption incident costs. It therefore reported a loss before tax of £45.4m. Shareholders have contributed £30.5m of redress payments for supply interruptions (see below). South East al
-
Jul 193 min read
Thames reports investment up 20%
(by Verity Mitchell) Thames Water has reported full-year results to March 2026. Underlying revenue was £3,616m, up 39% compared to the prior year. Operating profit of £1,212m was up 131%, driven by allowed price rises for AMP8 and lower depreciation, amortisation and asset impairment charges. Underlying profit after tax was £204m. Thames incurred exceptional costs of £231.6m, of which £138m were debt advisory fees and £62m were restructuring, legal and advisory fees. Its cost
-
Jul 192 min read
Other stories from last week
(by Karma Loveday) Requiring water company bosses to take a dip in a river has made it onto Count Binface’s list of manifesto commitments for the Clacton by-election. It sits alongside other policies including restoring the price of an ice cream with flake to 99p, turning the Millennium Dome into a nature reserve, and building at least one affordable home. Defra has confirmed, post consultation, that it will proceed with its Special Measures Act plans to strengthen and speed
-
Jul 123 min read
Government holds firm on PFAS Plan position
(by Karma Loveday) The Environmental Audit Committee was clearly disappointed in the Government’s response to its April report on Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Publishing the response, the Committee’s headline was that Government had declined to make any new commitments beyond those set out in its February PFAS Plan, despite MPs’ call to allow only essential uses of PFAS and to rapidly restrict PFAS from non-essential consumer
-
Jul 121 min read
Customer satisfaction with water nudges up in UKCSI
(by Karma Loveday) Average customer satisfaction with water companies nudged up to 70.2 out of 100, from 69.5 last year, in the July 2026 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). Eight water companies had a UKCSI score that was at least 2 points higher than a year ago, but four companies dropped by 2 points or more. Two made it onto the all-sector 20 most improved companies list: Northumbrian Water, up 7.3 to 75 out of 100 (with subsidiary Essex and Suffolk Water also up 4.6 p
-
Jul 121 min read
South East commissions £50m plant and launches livestock register
(by Karma Loveday) South East Water last week reported progress on two fronts in its efforts to increase water supply resilience. It commissioned its £50m Butler Water Treatment Works in Aylesford, Kent, which will supply up to an extra 20m litres of water every day into the network. Construction was completed in March, and work is now underway to plan a new strategic pipeline that will help move this new water, when required, across the county. South East Water managed to ac
-
Jul 122 min read
Moody's downgrades Thames’ Class A senior debt ratings to Ca
(by Verity Mitchell) Moody's Ratings has downgraded Thames Water Utilities Finance's Class A backed senior secured debt ratings to Ca from Caa3, and backed senior secured MTN programme rating to (P)Ca from (P)Caa3. The one notch downgrade reflected that Moody’s now expects lower recovery rates for Class A creditors, compared to its previous assumptions – primarily driven by the Government's response to the London & Valley Water consortium's revised recapitalisation proposal.
-
Jul 122 min read
M Group continues its acquisition-led growth
(by Verity Mitchell) M Group, the infrastructure services company, has released its full-year results to 31 March 2026. Revenues of £3.1bn rose by 23%, driven strongly by acquisitions. EBITDA was up 40% to £217m (before exceptional and non-recurring items). The EBITDA margin grew to 7.1%, up from 6.2%. Its order book reached £10.4bn, increasing 18% year-on-year. Operating profit was £14.4m compared to a loss of £13.9m in the prior year, reflecting amortisation of acquisition
-
Jul 122 min read
Severn Trent on track and earning regulatory rewards
(by Verity Mitchell) Several companies are yet to publish full-year results for the year to March 2026. In contrast, Severn Trent has issued a trading update for the period to 8 July 2026. Management said that its operational and financial performance remains in line with expectations. It remains confident of delivering at least £50m of rewards from Outcome Delivery Incentives and Price Control Deliverables together in the current year. It invested around £440m in the first q
-
Jul 121 min read
bottom of page
