United Utilities (UU) said it will reinvest £200 million for the benefit of its customers as it reports a strong financial performance in its results for the year ended 31 March 2013.

Revenue at the group was up by £71 million to £1,636 million, attributed principally as a result of the impact of the regulated price increase for 2012/13, partially offset by reduced volumes and the ongoing impact of customers switching to meters.

Underlying operating profit increased by £13 million to £607 million, despite an expected increase in depreciation. Total regulatory capital investment for the year, including £161 million of infrastructure renewals expenditure, was £787 million, representing an increase of 16% compared with last year, reflecting continued progress on the capital investment programme. Underlying profit before taxation was up 8%, at £354 million.

The utility said it has now invested just over £2 billion across the first three years of the AMP5 regulatory period, as it has sought to deliver a smoother investment profile to support efficient delivery of outputs and reduce risk.

United Utilities said it has also met or outperformed its regulatory leakage target for the seventh consecutive year.

In a statement the utility said it is reinvesting £200m across the north west in improving the region’s water and wastewater services- the money has been saved through efficiencies in the company’s capital programme. £40m of the money will be spent on unfunded private sewers costs for customers.

Steve Mogford, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“We know customer satisfaction with our service is improving, underpinned by strong operational and environmental performance. We are improving the quality and reliability of our infrastructure and, by 2015, not only will we have delivered what we agreed, customers will get even more for their money. This reinvestment also brings forward a number of our improvement plans meaning customers will get the benefits from them earlier; in other words a better service, sooner.

“We accelerated our capital investment programme and invested £787 million in the year, taking the total investment in our network, since the start of the regulatory period in 2010, to just over £2 billion, providing an important contribution to the north west economy. We are delivering a smoother and more effective programme and we expect to invest around a further £800 million in 2013/14.”

Mr Mogford added:

“We haven’t yet allocated all the money and I’m keen that these funds are targeted in the right places to make a difference to our customers and the environment. We have been working closely with the Consumer Council for Water and will continue to work with both them and the Environment Agency over the next two years.”

Andrea Cook, Regional Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, said the extra money that UU is investing was great news for customers, having been generated from United Utilities delivering higher than expected efficiencies from its capital projects.

“It demonstrates transparency in the relationship between the shareholders and customers of United Utilities and that both can gain from out-performance.

“We are particularly pleased that not all of the £200million has been assigned. This means that CCWater will be able to discuss other customer preferences and priorities with the company which have been identified through consumer engagement,” she said.

The group said it has a robust capital structure and gearing - United Utilities Water PLC has a long-term credit rating of A3 from Moody’s Investors Service with a stable outlook.

Separately today 400 jobs have been safeguarded after United Utilities stepped in following the collapse of the Warrington-based civil engineering firm Daniel. Daniel provided services to United Utilities for metering and connections work across the region. The water company has entered into a new agreement with Enterprise, to TUPE across employees, when the sale and purchase of Daniel is complete. Two depots owned by Daniel in Oldham, Manchester and Penrith, Cumbria have also been saved.