United Utilities Group PLC (LSE:UU.) espoused its “increasing engagement and visibility of the important work we are delivering” at Windermere a day after the BBC reported on the water firm’s failure to prevent millions of litres of raw sewage pumping into the Lake District attraction.
The FTSE 100-listed utilities company failed to properly report the illegal dumping following a fault in one of its pumping stations, the BBC reported.
United avoided specific mention of the incident in today’s full-year earnings statement, but announced “around £400 million of AMP8 investment to reduce spills at more than 150 storm overflows, and to accelerate environmental schemes in communities such as Windermere, where we are fast-tracking investment to drive improvements earlier”.
“This is on top of the river health improvements we are already delivering through our Better Rivers programme and accelerated environmental improvements funded through reinvestment of our AMP7 outperformance,” stated United.
These improvements will not come at the expense of United’s capital-allocation policy though. The group announced a recommended final dividend of 33.19p per share, representing a 9.4% increase from the previous year's dividend.
United generated £745 million in net cash from operating activities, down from £788 million in the previous year due to higher interest payments.
“Operational performance has been strong, and I am pleased to report that we have met or exceeded around 80% of our regulatory targets, and we have also been ranked as the number one water and sewerage company for customer service in the independent UK Customer Service Index,” said chief executive Louise Beardmore.