Northern Ireland Water posts pre-tax profits of £100m for 2016/7

Northern Ireland Water has posted pre-tax profits of more than £100 million during the 12 months up to April 2017, described by chief executive Sara Venning as a “strong year of business performance”.

The government-owned water company reported that during 2016/17 it invested £154m across the network. Overall, revenue rose to £422.4m for the year ending March 31, the annual report and financial results indicated.

Venning (pictured) pointed out that the utility outperformed the target for overall level of service delivered to customers by 3%. “We achieved an Overall Performance Assessment score of 228 against a regulator-set target of 221.”

She reported that the efficiency gap between NI Water and leading water and wastewater companies in England and Wales had been reduced to 13%.

In Northern Ireland, domestic consumers are not charged directly for water and sewerage services. As a result, NI Water is dependent on government subsidy for around 67 per cent of its total revenue.

The report highlighted that the company’s non-domestic customers are paying 12% less, on average, for their water and sewerage services than they did five years ago.

Total assets increased by 4% to £2,928m over 2016/17 (2016: £2,816m). The utility’s net debt figure was £1,218.6m at 31 March 2017 (2016: £1,193.1m). Gearing was 48.4% the same as the previous year.