The ailing business is saddled with debts which stood at just under £16bn in those six months, up 7% on the year before.
An insider told the BBC that if it was not for the firm’s huge debt pile, Thames would be in reasonable shape financially.
Slightly misleading headline - it’s a rise in the annual bill of over £150, with the increase staggered over five years
They know exactly what they are doing with that headline.
The typical water bill will rise by an average of £86 from April for a year before easing, the industry regulator has said.
The (size of the) bill will ease, or the (rate of) rise will ease? And that’s not the only ambiguity there. All sorts of nonsense phrasing going on in that sentence.
The graphs are pretty rubbish, too.
Journos really are (intentionally or otherwise) consistently poor at communicating anything to do with numbers.
Higher price rises than previously reported you say?
[Kirk.gif]
Also
https://x.com/horton_official/status/1884190032992559112
Feargal Sharkey is in the replies to that, having now realised that the government used him as a prop in the run up to the election, and have ignored his calls since.
Thames Water granted emergency, expensive loans.
It is a fantasy that the increased rates we will all pay will go towards fixing sewers and increasing capacity. It’s going to end up as interest payments with debt providers.
In his judgment, Leech noted that the headline interest rate on the loan was “very, very high” and that the deal’s advisory fees “might be described as eye-watering”.
“Customers and residents who are struggling with their bills will be horrified at these costs,” he wrote.
Just make it public, you fucks.
And honestly jail the top staff at whatever fucking holding company owns Thames Water.
This probably won’t preview as it’s a paywall-breaking link, but the Sunday Times are reporting that Thames Water creditors are asking Ofwat to defer sewage spill fines.
“Financial institutions want Ofwat to pause penalties for failings on water leaks and spillages for several years while the utility tackles its problems”
Thames Water told me:
Every £1 I pay them, they spend 3p of that on serving their debts.
Enough for instant mega profit increases for those lenders.
Parliament will wait until Thames Water has a chance to reorganise its debt and ask for more money from its shareholders. Surely the invitation to a select committee hearing is already drafted. It just needs a date.
Two part documentary on iPlayer about Thames Water. It was their idea and a chance for them to put across some of the work they do and perhaps correct some of the attitudes towards their willingness and ability to actual improve their service.
I watched part 1 only and came away thinking the whole enterprise is doomed to fail.
Did anyone catch it?
They project a cash balance of £39m by the end of March. This is below the £200m liquidity requirement, and compares with £1.1bn as recently as September.
of course
you may remember KKR from such hits as
Child asks for some water
“We’ve got precious resources at home!”
I am actually disgusted. Did anybody hear of any civil disobedience around water bills?