Regulated revenue ahead at United Utlities

26th Jan 2011 07:21

Water supplier United Utilities has been trading in line with expectations since October, with regulated revenue slightly higher than anticipated.Though regulated revenue has been better than anticipated, it is likely to be lower in the second half of the company's financial year (which runs to end-March) than in the first half, because of seasonal fluctuations.Earlier this week sector peer Severn Trent said that the bad weather had slowed its capital expenditure programme, but there was no mention of this in United Utilities' statement, with the company stating that capital investment has continued at high levels, helping the business to meet regulatory and environmental standards.In line with the planned phasing of the capital investment programme, it is expected that infrastructure renewals expenditure and depreciation will be higher in the second half of 2010 /11 compared with the first six months of the financial year.The group has headroom to cover its projected financing needs through to the summer of 2012, in line with its policy of maintaining a healthy level of headroom on a rolling basis.The group's net debt position has improved slightly since the end of September, ahead of the payment of the interim dividend."The company remains confident of delivering outperformance over the five-year period," the statement concluded.