Northumbrian Water Limited said its operating profit increased from £233.2 million to £290.9 million in the year ended March 31, 2025, as revenue increased by £98.3 million to £1.017 billion.
Northumbrian Water is based in Pity Me, Durham. It is majority owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings and New York private equity company KKR & Co is also a shareholder.
Operating costs rose by £40.6 million to £726.3 million “largely due to increased employment costs, increased Environment Agency charges for abstraction licences and discharge permits and increased depreciation as a result of our capital investment programme.”
Northumbrian Water Limited said its net finance charges fell by £33 million to £177.2 million as the impact of inflation on index-linked borrowings reduced.
Profit before tax was £113.7 million.
“We invested over £600m in our assets in the year, including over £300m invested in maintaining the health of our assets to ensure the continued provision of sustainable water and wastewater services in the areas we serve,” msaid the group.
“We substantially completed our enhancement commitments for the 2020-25 price review period, including significant investments in the resilience of our water supplies across each of our north-east, Essex and Suffolk operating regions.
“We have also continued to invest to improve the resilience of our wastewater assets, as well as cyber resilience and smart metering. In addition, we commenced early work on our capital programme for the 2025-30 period, which will be more than double the size of the investment programme in the previous five year period.
“To meet our ongoing funding requirements, in particular our capital investment programme, we have continued to raise new debt as required, with two £50m bond taps received in March 2025 under our European Medium Term Note programme and a further £90m private placement issued after the balance sheet date.
“In addition, a £50m loan has been agreed but not yet drawn. We have a committed bank facility of £500m for the purpose of maintaining general liquidity, which was undrawn as at today’s date.
“NWL retains investment grade credit ratings of Baa1 (negative outlook) from Moody’s and BBB+ (negative outlook) from Fitch Ratings. The negative outlooks are due to the uncertainty of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) redetermination process and the timing of potential equity injections.
“The Directors have assessed the future prospects of the Company and have confirmed that the business remains financially resilient over the long term.”