Millions flow out of United Utilities on capital projects

United Utilities

WATER company United Utilities is trumpeting £383m of capital investment in its half year as it targets a spend of about £800m on projects over the full 12 months.

However, profit before tax for the Warrington-based firm in the six months to September 30 was down £16m to £189m, as a £4m increase in operating profit was offset by a £19m in net finance expense.

The finance expense is due to the impact of higher RPI inflation and UU’s index-linked debt.

Chief executive Steve Mogford said: “This has been a strong first half performance in which we made significant progress towards meeting our customer, environmental and financial targets.
 
“Customer service has again improved, resulting in our best score under Ofwat’s revised service incentive mechanism.  

“We’re continuing to enhance our customer service offering and recently launched priority services, to provide dedicated support for those who are experiencing short or long-term personal or financial challenges.
“The acceleration of our capital investment programme continues to deliver early customer service and operational benefits.”

“Our environmental performance has remained consistently high and we were delighted to attain industry leading company status from the Environment Agency.

“Overall, we are encouraged by our progress in the early part of this regulatory period. We have a robust financial position and are confident that we can deliver our targets for both customers and shareholders.”

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