Thames Water Utilities Limited Full Year Results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2023
Monday 10th July 2023 06:00
Record investment and new operational model supporting the turnaround of Thames Water
- Record £1.8 billion investment in our assets, a 60% increase in two years
- Restructured the business to a regional operating model
- Insourced repair and maintenance of water network and on shored customer-facing care teams
Operational performance impacted by extreme weather and ageing assets
- 55% of annual performance commitments met
- Complaints fell by 28%, the second consecutive significant year-on-year reduction
- Improvements in several key performance commitments including a reduction in sewage discharges, internal sewer flooding, and sewer blockages
- Record summer drought had significant impact on leakage and pollutions performance
Increased support for customers and focus on environmental transparency
- Supported over 300,000 customers, increasing social tariff support to £50 million in the year
- Taking leadership stance on river health and transparency - the first company to publish a live map of sewage discharges
Financial performance impacted by high inflation and investment in leakage
- Revenue increased 4% to £2.3 billion largely reflecting tariff growth
- EBITDA down 3% to £1.1 billion, reflecting higher operating costs
- Gearing fell 3.2 ppts to 77.4%, its lowest level in 10 years
Strong liquidity and ongoing shareholder support underpin a transition to a more focused turnaround plan
- Strong liquidity position of £4.4 billion as at 31 March 2023
- An initial £500 million of shareholder funding was drawn on 30 March 2023
- Shareholders have agreed to provide a further £750 million of equity funding in AMP7, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions 1
- Shareholders have also acknowledged that delivery of the Turnaround Plan is likely to require the provision of further equity support in AMP8 (2025-30), significantly in excess of their current AMP7 commitment and indicatively is expected to be in the region of £2.5 billion 2
Cathryn Ross and Alastair Cochran, Interim Co-CEOs of Thames Water said:
“It was an extremely challenging year for Thames Water and the water industry. Our network came under unprecedented pressure from record temperatures, a drought and a freeze / thaw event. At the same time, economic factors also impacted our financial results with high inflation driven by a surge in energy and chemical prices. In short, our performance was not as we – or our customers – wanted it to be.
“Despite this, we are in a robust financial position. We had £4.4bn liquidity as at 31 March 2023 and are extremely fortunate to have such supportive shareholders. Their commitment to delivering Thames’ turnaround and life’s essential service is reflected in the largest equity support package ever seen in the UK water sector, whilst taking no dividends out.
“Given our performance, we launched a review of our turnaround two and a half months ago to identify what needs to change to deliver better performance, quicker. As a result, we are transitioning to a more focused Turnaround Plan – this targeted approach focuses expenditure on a smaller number of initiatives that will deliver substantial and sustainable improvements in key performance metrics over the next three years.
“This plan builds on the foundations that have been put in place over the last two years and progress made this year. We have brought customer-facing teams back into our region and insourced the repair and maintenance of our water network. We’re fixing more leaks and customer complaints have continued to fall significantly. We have also increased investment in our networks and assets to record levels as we undertake a detailed review of our ageing Victorian asset infrastructure to determine what needs to be done to improve operational resilience and performance over the long-term.
“Our balance sheet remains robust and, while change will not happen overnight, we are confident we have the right strategy, team and support in place to deliver for our customers, communities and the environment in London and the Thames Valley.”
Financial Performance
Notes
- This further funding is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, including the preparation and production of a business plan that underpins a more focused turnaround that delivers targeted performance improvements for customers, the environment and other stakeholders over the next three years and is supported by appropriate regulatory arrangements
- The nature and level of such medium-term support will depend on the finalisation of the business plan
- Refer to pages 124 to 125 of the Thames Water Annual Report 2022/23 for information about the Bazalgette Tunnel Limited (“BTL”) arrangement
- Ratio of Senior covenant net debt to Regulatory Capital Value (“RCV”)
- Representing the consolidated Corporate Family Rating assigned by Moody’s / S&P Class A debt of the securitisation group; S&P placed its ratings on negative CreditWatch on 30 June 2023
Read the Full Year Results.