United Utilities: Profit rises significantly as water bills hiked
Profit at United Utilities jumped significantly ahead of the FTSE 100 giant hiking water bills for its more than seven million customers, it has been revealed.
The Warrington-headquartered firm, which serves customers in the North West of England, has also proposed an increase to its final dividend of 4.2 per cent to 34.6p.
The company has reported a pre-tax profit of £355m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, up from the £170m it posted for the prior 12 months. Underlying operating profit rose 22.4 per cent to £634m.
New figures filed with the London Stock Exchange also show its revenue increased by 10 per cent to £2.1bn.
Bills are set to rise by an average of 32 per cent over the next five years as the company attempts to fix leaky infrastructure. That will mean an average increase of £31 per year until 2030.
“We have delivered another strong set of results for customers, communities and the environment in the North West,” chief executive Louise Beardmore said.
“Our focus on performance has seen us meet or surpass around 80 per cent of our performance targets over the last five years, the best performance of any water company.”
Beardmore said increased investment had helped the firm cut “spills per storm overflow by 24 per cent last year,” or around 20,000.
United Utilities has faced fierce backlash after it was revealed the company had illegally dumped millions of litres of raw sewage into Lake Windermere, one of England’s most famous lakes.
United Utilities: Dividends and bonuses in the spotlight
The water industry is under pressure to fix an ageing infrastructure network, which has been starved of investment in recent years and led to a surge in sewage leaks.
Dividends and remuneration in particular have been in the spotlight given the issues.
Bosses at Thames Water, the UK’s largest water supplier, on Tuesday defended pay packets totalling more than £700,000.
United Utilities’ boss Beardmore pocketed a bonus of £420,000 last year, bringing her total pay up to around £1.4m.
She said on Thursday the company’s five-year investment plan would support 30,000 jobs directly and indirectly, while bringing £35bn in economic value to the North West.
“Looking to the future, we have already started work on our ambitious £13bn plan for the next five years – the biggest investment in improving water and wastewater infrastructure in more than a century.”