Thames Water risks running out of cash as soon as March without a proposed £3 billion emergency injection from creditors.
Britain’s largest water supplier on Tuesday warned it may not be able to continue operating without the funds after net debt grew from £14.7 billion in March to £15.8 billion come October.
Funds could become “exhausted” without court approval for the emergency injection, it said, ahead of rulings on December 17 and January 20.
New funding, to which some creditors have already agreed, would keep the supplier to 16 million people afloat and stave off the threat of nationalisation until October.
Thames Water’s debt gearing rose from 80.6% to 84.2% between March and October, it also reported, despite a 20% year on year rise in pre-tax profit to £249.6 million.
Thames has been awaiting approval for the funding alongside confirmation from regulator Ofwat over price controls for the coming years, due this month.