Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 4307M

Thames Water Utilities Limited

15 July 2026

 

Thames Water Utilities Limited

15 July 2026

 

Thames Water Utilities Limited Annual Results for the year to 31 March 2026

Chris Weston, Chief Executive Officer of Thames Water, said:

"Thames Water today is a very different business from what it was two years ago. While we have a lot more to achieve, the progress we have made in turning the company around has meant we are now performing better and are in a strong position to accelerate the delivery of the biggest upgrade of our infrastructure in 150 years. This upgrade will, over time, address asset resilience issues and translate into sustained improvements in the services we provide for our customers and impact on the environment. 

"The upgrade of our network requires a material and sustained increase in capital investment over the next decade. This year we invested £2.7 billion, a 20% increase over last year, as we invested over £7 million every day to modernise our water and wastewater networks. We've grown our workforce by 12% creating new jobs and vital youth employment opportunities. Our activity is supporting economic growth, boosting the UK construction industry and increasing skilled employment across London, the Thames Valley and the Home Counties. Every pound of profit is reinvested in the business to improve our performance. Customer revenue does not cover our required expenditure and our cash outflow before new debt funding was £1.1bn.

"Our transformation programme is improving operational discipline and resilience. As a result, we have seen improved performance across all areas of the company including reduced pollutions, down 18 per cent, over 88km of new pipe being laid, 1,700km of sewers cleaned and met more of Ofwat's common performance commitments. There is still more to do, particularly on environmental performance. 

"While we upgrade our assets, we remain focused on supporting customers, many of whom are facing cost-of-living pressures. Last year, we supported more than 560,000 households through our WaterHelp programme, providing assistance worth £260 million, the largest programme of its type in the industry.

"While operationally the business is improving, we are also working with our creditors, regulators and government to complete our recapitalisation to restore an investment grade credit rating, lower our cost of borrowing, attract new equity, to fund our AMP8 programme and beyond.

"Thames Water is changing for the better whilst continuing to deliver 2.6 billion litres of drinking water and treating 4.3 billion litres of wastewater every day. I am very proud of what we do and grateful for the continued support of the hard-working people who are committed to improving this business every day."

Operational performance

Met 55% (11 out of 20) of Ofwat common performance commitment targets (FY25: 38%, 5 out of 13)At or above average in 8 out of 12 common performance measures in Ofwat’s October 2025 Water Company Performance Report18% reduction in pollutions and 27% reduction in serious pollutions (2025 vs 2024). 3rd out of 11 in the sector on a normalised basis (2024: 6th)3rd lowest lost time injury rate of 11 water and sewerage companies (FY26)Continued improvement in leakage (15.1% lower than 2019/20 baseline, FY25 13.2%)563,085 households on our WaterHelp social tariff, an increase of 38% (FY25: 408,823). £260 million affordability support provided to customers (FY25: £115 million), the largest customer support programme in the sector

Financial performance

Progress made in improving the financial performance of the business while investing record sums in the network and working towards securing stable financial foundations through the recapitalisation process Record capital investment of £2,680 million, up 20% (FY25: £2,225 million)Net cash outflow before debt funding increased to £1,130 million (FY25: £942 million net outflow) as the increases in capital investment and net interest paid were higher than the increase in cash flow generated from our customers Underlying profit after tax of £204 million (FY25: £13 million), reflecting stronger underlying operating performanceUnderlying revenue of £3,616 million, up 39% (FY25: £2,603 million), largely driven by allowed tariff increases, with underlying operating profit of £1,282 millionNet debt (statutory basis) rose to £18,516 million (FY25: £16,794), as we continued to fund the business through a combination of debt and internally generated cash flows, taking gearing to 86% (FY25: 84%)Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) grew to £22,725 million, largely driven by the high level of capital investment

Financial resilience

As at 31 March 2026, the group had total liquidity of £1,038 million, comprising available cash of £551 million and £487 million of undrawn super senior loan facility. As at 30 June 2026, liquidity of £588 million comprised cash of £515 million and £73 million committed but undrawn from the initial super senior facility. A further £677 million of the accordion facility is available but not yet committed. With the support of our creditors, we have sufficient funding through to Q4 2026.We continue to work with our creditors, regulators and government to complete our recapitalisation and restore an investment grade credit rating

Key financials1

Period ended	31 March 2026				31 March 2025
£m	Underlying	Exceptional items2	BTL3	Total	Underlying	Exceptional items2	BTL3	Total	Total Movement
Revenue	3,616	-	141	3,757	2,603	-	135	2,738	1,019
EBITDA	2,089	(62)	141	2,168	1,335	(220)	135	1,250	918
Profit / (Loss) after tax	204	(232)	141	113	13	(1,691)	164	(1,514)	1,627
Capital investment4	2,680	-	-	2,680	2,225	-	-	2,225	455
Liquidity5	1.0 billion	-	-	1.0 billion	1.7 billion	-	-	1.7 billion	(0.7) billion
Net debt (statutory)	(18,516)	-	-	(18,516)	(16,794)	-	-	(16,794)	(1,696)
Senior gearing				86.1%				84.4%

 

1 Table includes rounding differences.

2 Refer to Material Accounting Policies section in the Annual Report for information on exceptional items.

3 Our financial statements include the amounts billed in relation to the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which are passed to Bazalgette Tunnel Limited ("BTL"), the independent company responsible for the construction of the tunnel. As this money is not retained by us, we exclude it from our underlying results. Further information about the BTL arrangement can be found in the Annual Report on Thames WaterÕs website.

4 The investment in assets includes £0.2 billion (FY25: £0.1 billion) assets which have been constructed under self-lay by third parties at nil cost.

5 As at 31 March 2026, cash of £0.5 billion and £0.5 billion committed super senior loan facility, subject to conditions precedent for drawing including a creditor waiver.

 

A copy of the Thames Water Utilities Ltd 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts will also shortly be available at:

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/investors/results-and-presentations

 

For further information

Investor enquiries

Adam Harmon – Investor Relations [email protected]

Media enquiries

Ewan Robertson – Head of Media Relations

07779 718865 Jason Collie – Senior Media Relations Manager

07747 640703 [email protected]

 

This notice is given by:

THAMES WATER UTILITIES LIMITED

15 July 2026

LEI: 213800JKM5UQHFJOTZ25

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