In its preliminary financial results statement for the year ended 31 March 2016, the company said this was largely driven by a £1 million increase in turnover and a reduction in infrastructure renewals charged to the income statement of £1.9 million.
The £1 million increase in turnover was largely driven by average tariff increases of 2 per cent, and 2,300 new properties.
The firm said it had employed new staff, increasing its employee-base from 246 to 251, as it increased its activities to meet the requirements of retail competition, and to develop and prepare the new IT system.
This, as well as with the annual salary increase of 2.3 per cent and increased pension costs of £0.2 million, has resulted in increased employee costs of £0.6 million.
Portsmouth Water chairman Mike Kirk said: “The company continues to make good progress to ensure that we meet the necessary compliance and market operating requirements for the opening of retail competition.
“These preparations remain an area of significant management focus and effort reflecting the importance of this activity.”
The company pointed out that it had ranked number one for overall service and for both billing and operational matters in Ofwat’s independent Service Incentive Mechanism quarterly survey, with the number of complaints received per 10,000 customers falling to 8.6 – compared with the industry average of 28.0.
After “extensive” customer research, and “overwhelming support” from customers, Portsmouth announced it will launch a social tariff in July this year, to “compliment a range of services we already offer to support those in society that need help”.
Kirk said: “We have completed the first year of the current regulatory period and are on track for a positive performance against our outcomes.
“We have also invested significant efforts in the preparation for the non-household market competition in 2017, including our decision to dispose of our non-household retail business on 1 April 2017 to Castle Water.
“At the same time, we have continued to deliver excellent customer service, the lowest household bills in the industry and a strong financial performance.”