Severn Trent pays price for rebuffing bid approach

17th Jul 2013 07:56

Severn Trent revealed 19m pounds of costs for repelling an offer for the company as it said trading was in line with expectations.The UK water company rebuffed three approaches from Canadian consortium LongRiver Partners from early May to June 11th. "In addressing this approach, the board of Severn Trent Plc has incurred costs for advisory, legal and other services of approximately £19m in aggregate," the company said in a trading update.Customer prices in Severn Trent Water increased 2.0% from April 1st and consumption fell according to the company's expectations. Operating costs for the current year are set to rise because of inflation and "quasi-taxes", partly offset by efficiency gains.The group's net interest charge will be higher this year because of increased net debt and an accounting change."The board of Severn Trent Plc confirms that trading across the group has been in line with its expectations and prior guidance," the company said.