Portsmouth returns to "more typical" profitability after earlier dip in costs

Preliminary results at Portsmouth Water for 2016-17 showed profit before tax down 65% to £1.49m. The company said the fall was due to a “return to more typical levels of profitability” following a one-off dip in infrastructure renewal costs in 2015-16 to £1.8m – down £1.9m from the previous year.

The company unveiled infrastructure renewal expenses for the reporting period of £4.2m. Operating profit fell year-on year by more than 26% to 35.6m. Return on regulated equity was down from 10.8% to 7.5% reflecting the decrease in operating income.

Revenue was up £0.5m from 2015-16 to £40.3m latest report driven by raised tariffs and 2,100 new properties connected to the network.

The company reported its average household bill at £98 as the lowest in England and Wales.