Pre-tax profit at Pennon increased to £111.1 million from 107.4 million in the same period last year, but total revenue fell to £633.7million from £642 million. Operating profit also fell, by 4.8 per cent to £136.3 million from £143.1 million.
Pennon’s water arm, South West Water, reported a better performance than its Viridor waste business. South West Water posted pre-tax profit of £83.8 million for the six months, up from £76.2 million during the same period in 2011. Pre tax profit at Viridor was down 26.5 per cent to £22.5 million.
Pennon attributed South West Water’s 10 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to a reduction in operating costs. This came despite a 3.5 per cent fall in customer demand, as the UK experienced an unusually wet summer.
Operating profit for South West Water rose by £7.1 million during the period to £115 million, an increase of 6.6 per cent.