United Utilities reports rise in full-year profit

21st May 2015 07:19

United Utilities posted a rise in underlying profit for the year ended 31 March to £664.3m from £634.6m, on revenue of £1.7bn, up 1.9% from last year.Full-year operating profit came in at £653.3m compared with £630.2m last year.The company said it had continued to tightly manage its costs base, despite the expected increase in depreciation and other cost pressures, including bad debt. There was also a planned reduction in infrastructure renewals expenditure in the year, as United Utilities completed the five-year regulatory period.Total regulatory capital investment in the year, including £148m of infrastructure renewals expenditure, was £869m, up £33m from last year."We have now completed the 2010-15 regulatory period and are pleased to have achieved a strong overall performance for the benefit of all our stakeholders," said chief executive officer Steve Mogford. "We have delivered substantial improvements in customer satisfaction and have become a leading operational performer in our sector.""We expected our 2015-20 price determination to be tough and it was. However, our operational improvements and preparation provide us with a good platform to deliver further value in the forthcoming regulatory period," he added.The total dividend per share for the year came in at 37.70p, up from 36.04p in the 2014.