Wessex Water’s latest financial results for the six months to September 2023 showed turnover increased by £20.2 million from £266.8 million to £287 million - but a £3.8 million profit after taxation in 2022 eroded to a loss of £8 million after taxation.

Results for the half year show operating profit increased by £10.8 million from £67.2 million to £78 million. Regulated tariff revenue increased by £17.5 million, mainly due to price rises allowed by Ofwat. Operating costs increased by £9.4 million from £199.6 million to £209 million.

The company said there were significant upward pressures on costs due to continuing high energy market prices, general high inflation within the economy and new obligations such as phosphorus removal, partially offset by on‐going efficiency programmes.

Commenting on the supply chain. Wessex Water said it was continuing to experience volatile market conditions and costs due to unsettled global conditions and that resource shortages remained challenging for both its supply chain and its own workforce.

“In transitioning to deliver the larger environmental programme in AMP8 we are working with our supply chain to strengthen our resilience and are focusing on the development and retention of key

resources to maintain a high level of service to customers”, the company said.

Net capital investment for the six months was £161.9 million, a significant increase on £100.7 million last year and remains consistent with the timing of the construction programme for the current regulatory period.

Dividends declared for the six months to 30 September 2023 were £37 million, a reduction from £41.1 million for the same period last year.

Customer experience scores for the first half of the year, published by Ofwat, confirm that Wessex

Water remained top of the leader board for water and sewerage companies and in the Consumer Council For Water’s (CCW) latest household complaint-handling report, it is one of two top performers. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has also named Wessex Water as the top performer for the compliance risk index (CRI) measure for the second year in a row.

The water company said that in the first six months of the year, Wessex Water continued to demonstrate strong performance to meet 2023-24 regulatory targets and performance measures against the ongoing challenges of volatile weather patterns and tighter regulatory standards.

Wessex Water is currently spending more than £3 million a month on schemes to reduce storm overflows – with a number completed or well under way involving the construction of underground storage tanks to store stormwater until heavy rainfall events have passed. Additionally, millions of pounds have been invested to improve processes at water recycling centres to remove phosphorus and nitrates, improving the health of rivers.

In October Wessex Water published its AMP8 Business Plan setting out proposals to go even further and invest more between 2025 and 2030 by doubling the current level of investment to £3.5 billion, subject to regulatory approval.

Chief Executive Colin Skellett said:

“Customers rightly have high expectations of the water services they receive and the way we protect the environment around us. In the first half of this financial year, we have finalised our business plan for 2025-2030.

“This plan represents a major change – we are proposing to more than double our current level of

investment to £3.5 billion and to deliver a massively ambitious set of outcomes.”

Commenting on the challenges of the weather experienced this year, he continued:

“Climate change continues to drive real changes in weather patterns – we have seen the hottest June in the UK since records began in 1884, significant flooding events and more frequent, more intense rainfall. These events all have significant impacts on our operations, but we have continued to provide resilient services to our customers throughout.

“This is something we are immensely proud of but cannot take for granted. Significant investment is required to ensure we maintain these levels of service in increasingly unstable and extreme weather events.”