Water firms turn on taps with £2.7bn investment pledge July 15, 2021 The UK’s water companies will pour a total of £2.7bn into environmental improvements over the next five years, it was announced this morning. On top of £1.9bn of pre-planned spending, sector regulator Ofwat has this morning approved an extra £793m of investment. The watchdog said that the additional spending would “allow water companies to take [...]
Water firms slammed over ‘unacceptable’ environmental performance July 13, 2021 Southern Water and South West Water have this morning been slammed over their environmental record, which the sector watchdog called “consistently unacceptable”. According to the Environment Agency’s latest annual report into the UK’s water firms, no single company hit all the targets laid out for the 2015-2020 period. Although pollution incidents declined for the second [...]
Pennon turns on the taps with £425m Bristol Water deal June 3, 2021 Utilities firm Pennon this morning announced that it had bought Bristol Water for £425m as it consolidates its position as the south-west’s largest water company. Alongside the deal the FTSE 100 firm said that it would pay out a special dividend of £1.5bn to shareholders, as well as kick off a £400m share buyback. Shares [...]
Pennon eyes acquisitions as it sits on £3bn cash pile March 30, 2021 Water utility firm Pennon today said it was eyeing acquisition opportunities as it expects to end the financial year with over £3bn of cash. The firm said it had established a sustainable capital structure as it continued a review of growth opportunities benchmarked against a return of capital to shareholders. The FTSE 250 firm said [...]
FTSE reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out of London’s blue-chip index? March 3, 2021 FTSE reshuffle: Who's in and who's now out of London's blue-chip index?
KKR makes surprise bid for Pennon’s recycling arm January 12, 2020 Pennon’s bin collection and incineration firm Viridor has been the subject of a shock bid from US private equity fund KKR, in an attempt to knock out the competition before an expected auction process. Viridor is set to be one of 2020’s most keenly fought acquisitions, with a number of companies said to be interested [...]