United Utilities hikes divi by 5%

25th Nov 2009 07:04

Water company United Utilities is to look at selling off other parts of its non-regulated business after agreeing to sell its holdings in Northern Gas Networks and Manila Water for £130m.The disposals were announced alongside the company’s half year results which showed an improvement in underlying profit before tax to £268.2m from £252.6m a year earlier, although reported profit before tax, which includes exceptional items, tumbled to £206.1m from £305.8m.Revenue in the six months to 30 September rose by £6m to £1,210m.The interim dividend has been increased by 5% to 11.17p from 10.64p.‘This is a sound set of results in a challenging economic climate. We have delivered an underlying operating profit of £370 million in the half year and have continued to make high levels of investment in our water and wastewater infrastructure,’ said chief executive Philip Green.Green added that he expects the company will deliver a sound underlying performance over the rest of the financial year, despite the group facing ongoing revenue and cost pressures.United Utilities is on track to meet its regulatory leakage target for the fourth year in a row, while customer satisfaction ‘is now at its highest level for many years,’ the company said.