United Utilities trading in line with expectations

20th Mar 2014 07:17

- Trading in line with expectations- Revenue and profits to grow year-on-year- Net debt unchanged from first halfUnited Utilities, the UK water and wastewater company, said that trading for the 12 months ending March 31st has been in line with expectations with growth expected year-on-year.In a statement on Thursday, the firm said that revenues will show an increase on the previous year's £1.64bn, reflecting the regulated price change for 2013/14.Meanwhile, underlying operating profits should be "moderately higher" than the £607m reported the prior year, helped by a tight control of costs."Customer service continues to improve, as measured by Ofwat's service incentive mechanism, underpinned by good operational and environmental performance, and the company remains ahead of schedule in delivering its 2010-15 regulatory outperformance targets," the company said.United Utilities pledged to invest around £3.5bn between 2010 and 2015 to improve the water and wastewater infrastructure and environment across the North West of England.Investment in its asset base totalled £800m in 2013/14.The company said net debt at the end of the year would be similar to the levels registered as of September 30th 2013 when it was £5.49bn.Gearing, measured by net debt to regulatory capital value, is expected to be lower than the 59% reported at the half-year stage.BC