The North West’s Water provideder Water United Utilities posted a 4% rise in first-half operating profit, as consumption by businesses recovered from the pandemic, and said it was set to receive £150 million in regulatory incentives for 2020-2025.
United Utilities’ underlying operating profit rose to £332.8 million for the six months ended September 30th from £318.5 million a year earlier, driven by higher consumption as business activity returns to pre-pandemic levels, it said.
Steve Mogford, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“At a time when many families are struggling with a higher cost of living, we have reduced typical water bills for households in our region by 6 per cent in real terms over the last two years. We’re also offering more help than ever before for vulnerable customers and households that are struggling to pay.
“Climate change and population growth are challenges we must all confront, and we will continue to invest to make our services more resilient and strengthen our ability to respond to, and recover from, extreme weather events. Our £2 billion investment programme will also help our region’s economy to grow, generate jobs and develop skills in our communities.
“We’re committed to delivering our six carbon pledges, which will help us achieve our ambition of net zero by 2030. We have already delivered our pledge to source 100 per cent of our electricity from renewable sources. As well as reducing our carbon footprint, we are committed to protecting the natural environment and ensuring no net loss of biodiversity.
“We’ve continued with the great start that we’ve made to AMP7, benefitting from the acceleration of our capital programme and investment in Systems Thinking. Our strong operational performance delivers efficiency gains and improvements to outcome delivery incentives, and is enabling us to drive further value for our shareholders.”
