Pre-tax profits fell heavily from 2011/12 results of £222 million to £144.9 million in 2012/13 due to “unforeseen expenses” including drought, higher power costs and spiraling bad debt charges, a spokesman for the company said.
Despite the dramatic increase in pre-tax profits for the most recent year the company showed a reduction in total dividends paid to shareholders, from £231.4 million last year to £208.5 million, in line with limits agreed with Ofwat, the spokesman said.
Thames Water chief executive Martin Baggs said weather continued to pose “substantial challenges” to the company last year, “but despite demand for water reaching a 19-year high in the summer and flooding throughout much of our region in the winter, we got the network back to full operation quickly”, he added.
The company reported infrastructure investment of £1.1 billion, including the completion of the tunneling phase of the £635 million Lee Tunnel.
In addition, the company said it exceeded water leakage targets for the eighth consecutive year, taking the level down a third from what was seen in 2004.
On the retail side of the business the company reported a decrease of one third in the number of written complaints received, with customer satisfaction rising 12%.
“We push forward into this next financial year in a strong position and with a commitment to continue to improve our customer service, which is still well below the industry average,” Baggs said.
“Our focus will remain on agreeing our five-year business plan with the regulator, delivering best value and improved services for our customers and, now the Government has specified the Thames Tideway Tunnel as a priority infrastructure project, we will work towards getting the best deal for our customers and the project,” he added.