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TOP NEWS: United Utilities interim profit falls due to residual costs

14th Nov 2024 09:26

(Alliance News) - United Utilities Group PLC on Thursday said profit fell in the first half of its current financial year, as it contended with a residual cost from repair works last year.

The Warrington, England-based water and wastewater services provider said pretax profit in the six months that ended September 30 was GBP140.6 million, falling 13% from GBP160.0 million last year.

This reflected "an adjusting item, in respect of the residual costs associated with a fractured outlet pipe at our Fleetwood wastewater treatment works in June 2023," the company explained.

Revenue grew 10% to GBP1.08 billion from GBP975.4 million, while operating expenses increased 1.9% to GBP748.6 million from GBP734.8 million.

United Utilities declared an interim dividend of 17.28 pence per share, up 4.1% year-on-year from 16.59p.

Chief Executive Officer Louise Beardmore said: "We have delivered a robust set of operational and financial results. Improving rivers continues to be a key area of focus. We are already making progress at reducing spills from storm overflows, having commenced a programme of accelerated solutions.

"Our five-year plan builds on this, with a step-change in investment, and last week we announced that we would go further and faster, accelerating with more work to reduce spills. By 2030, we will deliver improvements at more than 1,100 overflows across the North West.

"Looking ahead, we continue to evolve our plan for the next five years, with ambitious investment proposals to build a stronger, greener and healthier North West. This will see us invest significantly in new infrastructure, supporting 30,000 jobs and aligning with the government's ambitions for economic growth in the region."

United Utilities expects revenue to increase around 10% for its full-year results, compared to GBP1.95 billion last year. It also anticipates operating costs to increase by more than inflation, due to "business rates, regulatory charges and infrastructure renewals expenditure".

Shares in United Utilities were up 1.4% at 1,063.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter

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