Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT) has brought forward plans to improve the quality of rivers in its region to a nine-year timeframe from 25 years previously.
The announcement came after the Environment Agency and Ofwat launched an investigation into the water industry's illegal releases of untreated waste into rivers.
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“There has been much discussion recently about the quality of our rivers and coastline. Rivers are key to our supply chain and, although we don't own our region's rivers, we take our role in protecting and caring for them seriously,” the company said.
“Our rivers are currently the healthiest they have been since the Industrial Revolution, but more needs to be done.”
The group said it has invested over £500mln in river quality so far into its current regulatory Asset Management Plan (AMP).
The news accompanied Severn Trent’s results for the first six months to 30 September 2021, which showed an increase in turnover and profit after the lifting of lockdown restrictions led to higher consumption from its non-household customers.
Turnover rose to £958.2mln in the six months to 30 September 2021 from £887.6mln in the same period last year.
Profit before interest and tax (PBIT) grew by 13.8% to £255.6mln, while pre-tax profit increased by 16.1% to £146.9mln.
Higher inflation led to a rise in net finance costs to £120.8mln from £91.1mln, with the effective interest cost increasing to 4.2% from 3.3%. The effective cash cost of interest, excluding the impact of inflation, was unchanged at 3.1%.
The company said two thirds of its debt is fixed at low-cost rates. Average net debt of £6.25bn was broadly similar to the same period last year.
The changes to corporation tax announced in the Budget in March resulted in a an exceptional deferred tax charge of £294.2mln.
The net pension deficit shrank to £291.5mln, benefiting from strong asset growth of £167.1mln and planned contributions of £35.6mln, which more than offset the impact of higher expected inflation.
The interim dividend was increased by 0.6% to 40.86 pence.
The company said its operational performance is ahead of plan, with over 90% of its Customer Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODIs) on track.
It increased its Customer ODI guidance to at least £75mln for the full year to March 2022.
"We've made another strong start to the year as we focus on delivering for stakeholders across our region and delivering for customers in the areas that matter most to them, all while driving the financial performance of our business,” said Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield.
“We've continued to invest significantly in our network, in our people and to support our strong commitment to the environment. Our environmental ambitions remain at the heart of our company, whether planting over a million trees, reducing our carbon emissions, or producing an extra 95 million litres of water to tackle the threat of water scarcity.”