UNITED Utilities Group PLC has said that profit multiplied in the half-year to September, supported by strong sales growth.
The Warrington-based water company has recorded that pre-tax profit more than doubled to £325.3million in the six months ending in September, from £140.6million the year prior.
Operating profit increased by 68 per cent at the Lingley Green-headquartered firm to £561.5million from £333.4million.
This was driven by higher allowed revenue and a higher allocation of infrastructure renewals expenditure to capital expenditure, offset by inflationary pressure on operating costs.
Revenue increased by 21 per cent to £1.31billion from £1.08billion, outstripping 17 per cent growth in operating expenses to £486.4million from £414.5million.
United Utilities said net regulatory capex jumped by 22 per cent to £568.5million from £466.9million.
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Earnings per share soared to 35.2 pence from 15.1p, and the dividend was boosted by 3.5 per cent to 17.88p from 17.28p.
The FTSE 100 listing said it is targeting to outperform the regulatory contract by at least 100 basis points and aiming to increase the dividend in line with the consumer prices index, including owner-occupiers’ housing costs.
For the full year, revenue is expected to increase to between £2.5billion and £2.6billion, while underlying operating costs are expected to decrease.
The firm expects full-year EPS to be around 100p, and capital expenditure to be £1.5 billion.
In the financial year to March 2025, United Utilities reported revenue of £2.15 billion, EPS of 38.8p, and capital expenditure of £1.1billion.