Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Thames Water has urged financial regulator Ofwat to agree to a business plan that will make the company “investable”, as it vowed to raise new equity.
The company, which provides water and sewage services to about 16mn households, has spent the past year fighting to stave off collapse and temporary nationalisation.
Reporting annual results on Tuesday, chief executive Chris Weston said he continued to believe that a “market led solution that increases financial resilience is in the best interests of all stakeholders, but it is dependent on securing a final regulatory determination that is deliverable, financeable and investable, as well as affordable for our customers.”
Thames Water wants permission from Ofwat to raise average household bills by 59 per cent between 2025 and 2030, as part of its five-year business plan. The regulator is expected to deliver its initial verdict on the plan on Thursday.
Thames Water’s predicament has worsened as it has strained to service its debt, absorb a jump in costs and deliver a plan to reverse years of under-investment in its ailing infrastructure.
The company said it had £1.8bn in liquidity, enough to cover its operations for the next 11 months to the end of May 2025.
This is a developing story.
.