Water giant United Utilities pumps extra £100m into war chest

The UK’s biggest quoted water company, United Utilities, today said it will invest an extra £100 million to cope with climate change and a growing population.

The company said it would spend the extra money on “resilience” projects that would benefit customers over the next three years, as weather patterns become more extreme.

United said it has been able to build the investment war chest after stepping up its cash generation.

The company looks set to outperform its regulatory targets by some margin.

The increase in spending will take the total investment in the water company’s infrastructure to £3.6 billion from 2015 to 2020.

The group, which covers the Lake District as well as Manchester and Liverpool, also raises its dividend by 1%, even though revenues dipped by £26 million to £1.7 billion.

Underlying profits climbed by 3% to £622 million.

Shares in United Utilities dipped slightly, down less than 1% to 1051p, having gained 8% in the past three months.

There was no reference to the Labour party’s manifesto commitment to renationalise the water sector if it wins the general election next month.