Revenues at Northumbrian Water Group have topped £1bn in a year in which profits increased significantly.
The company supplies water and sewage services to about 2.7m people across the North East and a further 2.4m across Essex and Suffolk. Accounts for the company for the year ending March 31 show that revenue rose from £952.4m to £1.04bn, while profit for the year increased from £24m a year earlier to £83.4m.
The company revealed that it had hit 12 of its 17 internal targets on customer service, the environment, people, communities and competitiveness, though benchmarks on leakages and discharges were among those not met. In June it agreed payments worth £15.7m to water regulator Ofwat for allowing sewage discharges into rivers and the sea.
It also says that it has not accepted a determination from Ofwat on bill levels for the coming years, saying that the regulator’s determination does not allow it sufficient funds to invest in upgrading its network and other environmental measures. As a result, the matter has been passed to the Competition and Markets Authority, with a final outcome expected by next March.
In the accounts, the company says: “Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL) are disappointed to have missed their targets on discharge permit compliance and category 3 pollution incidents, which will be taken into account in the EPA assessment.
“NWL fully recognises the level of public concern with regards to the environmental impact of the sector, and the operation of storm overflows in particular. NWL remains committed to its ambition to have the best rivers and beaches in the country and have updated its Vision for Coasts and Rivers with the latest progress against the ambitious pledges it has made.
“NWL has reduced the number of spills from its sewer network by 13% in 2024 compared to 2023 and there is a continued focus on driving this number down. NWL’s pioneering smart sewers project, which uses AI and sensors to manage wastewater flow in real-time across the network with the aim of reducing spills, is an example of the innovative actions being taken to address this issue.
“The PR24 Business Plan sets out the plan to invest c.£1bn over the next five years aimed at reducing the use of storm overflows and improving bathing water quality.”
The company said that its business plan for the next five years was based on the areas that matter most to its customers and has committed it to significant environmental upgrades and improvements in the resilience of its water supply resilience. It said it was the only Ƶ water company to have not had any of the most serious pollution incidents in the past three years, and that its 69% reduction in internal sewer flooding made it the industry leader.
The accounts reveal the company made dividend payments totalling £74.7m during the year to its owners based in Hong Kong and the US.
