Thames Water revenue jumps past £1bn after payment surge

Thames Water revealed a surprise jump in half-year revenues past £1 billion on Friday after receiving a lump of late payments from billpayers.

Sales for the six months ending September rose 6.4% to £1.1 billion, versus a rise of 0.5% last time, after Thames made up a shortfall in the amount of money it recovered from prior years.

The 6.4% increase reflects money paid by customers in 2017/18 which has now been booked onto Thames accounts.

The company is permitted by regulators to recoup any under-recovered revenue in later years.

Interim executive chairman Ian Marchant is on the hunt for a new chief executive after Steve Robertson stepped down in May. Thames said it was now in the “advanced stages” of hiring.

Thames is braced for a crucial December. Water firms will hear the outcome of price control proposals from Ofgem on December 16, four days after the general election. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to nationalise water companies if he becomes PM.

The company made a £54 million pre-tax loss due to a negative swing on its hedging book. Thames must hedge its balance sheet for currency and inflation moves and mark the value of the hedges against market prices. Lower than expected interest rate rises have changed these prices, forcing Thames to book a £161 million hedging loss.