London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Thames Water braced for crunch talks over £14bn debt-pile

Thames Water braced for crunch talks over £14bn debt-pile

Britain's biggest water company has hired Rothschild and Slaughter & May to help evaluate financing options for its vast balance sheet.
Thames Water is facing crunch talks over its finances amid mounting concerns about its ability to service a debt mountain which stands at more than £14bn.

Sky News has learnt that Thames Water, which is privately owned and employs about 7,000 people, has in the last few weeks hired Rothschild, the investment bank, and the law firm Slaughter & May to explore financing options for the company.

The appointment of the advisers has taken place against a backdrop of growing public and political fury about the company's dire record at preventing leaks and raw sewage discharges.

Thames Water serves nearly a quarter of Britain's population, with 15m customers across London and the Thames Valley.

Industry sources said the government and Ofwat, the industry regulator, were aware of growing concerns about its financial position.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "It's normal course of business to appoint advisors to support the funding of our investment programme."

Sarah Bentley, who joined as chief executive in 2020, is overseeing an eight-year plan to transform the company's operating and financial performance.

Ms Bentley recently declared that she was "heartbroken" about the company's historical failings, blaming "decades of underinvestment".

It has been fined numerous times, and is facing a deluge of regulatory probes.

In 2021, it was hit with a £4m penalty for allowing untreated sewage to escape into a river and park, while in August 2021, it was ordered to pay £11m for overcharging thousands of customers.

The range of financing options to Thames Water's board - which is chaired by the former SSE chief Ian Marchant - beyond seeking new equity investors or attempting to raise additional debt was unclear this weekend.

Nearly £1.4bn of the company's bonds mature by the end of next year, with Ofwat price controls meaning water companies have little scope to generate additional income.

In an investor update published last September, Ms Bentley said that "the difficult external environment has increased the challenge of our turnaround".

"We've…made progress improving some of our performance metrics with a 43% reduction in customers' complaints, as well as reductions in total pollutions and sewer flooding incidents.

"That said, there's still a long way to go, and the recent drought affected progress on water metrics following a spike in leakage caused by exceptional dry ground conditions."

Last July, the company said it had agreed with shareholders the injection of £500m of new equity funding, with a further £1bn expected to be delivered by the end of next year.

Thames Water is owned by a group of pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, some of which are said to be sceptical about delivering additional funding referred to in the company's last financial update.

Its largest shareholder is Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), a vast Canadian pension fund, which holds a stake of nearly 32%, according to Thames Water's website.

Others include China Investment Corporation, the country's sovereign wealth fund; the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK's biggest private pension fund; and Infinity Investments, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Hermes, which manages the BT Group pension scheme, is also a shareholder.

The additional shareholder funding formed part of a £2bn expenditure increase, taking its total spending during the current five-year regulatory period to £11.6bn.

In its September update, Thames Water said shareholders had "further evidenced their support for [Thames Water] and its business plan through an Equity Support Letter where the shareholders have committed to hold investment committee meetings (for their respective institutions) as a path to obtaining approval (in the discretion of the investment committee) for funding their pro rata share of conditional commitments in respect of the further £1bn of additional equity which is assumed in TWUL's business plan".

"Whilst this is not a legal commitment to fund, is subject to conditions and is dependent on governance arrangements between shareholders, given that [Thames Water] and its shareholders are currently engaged in a collaborative process to agree and facilitate such equity commitments, the [Thames Water] board believes it is reasonable to incorporate this additional £1bn of equity funding in its assessment."

The company has not paid its owners a dividend for nearly six years, and some shareholders are said to be increasingly keen to offload their holdings.

"In the scenario where sufficient equity commitments and/or funding were not forthcoming, [Thames Water], at that point, could revise its business plan to fit with then available funding, and adjust total expenditure down accordingly," the company said last autumn.

Thames Water is due to complete a consultation with Ofwat later this month on the establish of a Water Resource Management Plan, setting out how it will meet customer needs until the 2050s.

"Customers depend on companies to provide reliable water supplies," David Black, the regulator's chief executive, said.

"This requires companies to prepare properly for population growth and the impact of climate change."

Thames Water is not the only major water company to face questions about its financial resilience and operational track record.

Ofwat has also been in talks with others, including Southern Water and Yorkshire Water, in recent years about strengthening balance sheets amid performance issues.

There have been growing calls for the industry's ownership model to be overhauled because of the disquiet over lavish executive pay and the failure of companies to prevent waste and sewage contamination.

These ongoing controversies have fuelled demands for the consideration of mutual ownership structures, which would prohibit returns to shareholders and guarantee that profits would be reinvested in improving the sector's dire performance, while upgrading water infrastructure assets.

In total, tens of billions of pounds have been handed to shareholders in water utilities across Britain since privatisation, stoking public and political anger given the industry's frequent mishaps.

A spokeswoman said an update on Thames Water's net debt position would be published in its annual report in July.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
×