Southern Water has this morning welcomed an announcement that funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management have agreed to invest an additional £550 million of equity into the Southern Water group.
This follows their £1.1 billion equity injection into the Southern Water group in September 2021.
The water company said the additional £550 million of equity funding would help to maintain the momentum of its Turnaround Plan and manage the impact of the high inflation and interest rate environment on operating, maintenance and funding costs.
Of the £550 million of new equity, £375 million will be invested in the regulated company to support additional investment aimed at protecting the environment and better serving our customers. The remaining £175 million will be invested into the wider Southern Water group to support its financial resilience.
Southern Water said the new funding will enable it to increase planned capital investment in its network by 50 per cent to £3 billion (from £2 billion) during the current AMP7 regulatory period 2020-25, equivalent to investing £1,500 per household in its area.
Lawrence Gosden, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Water, said:
“We would like to thank Macquarie for its continued support, which will enable us to increase investment per household to more than £1,500 this regulatory period and manage the impact of cost inflation and higher funding costs on our business. Macquarie’s additional investment is a strong vote of confidence in our operational transformation. It will help us to deliver on our ambitions to customers and position Southern Water well for further future investment in our network.”
Southern Water cited recent examples of improvements and progress made, including:
completed the roll-out of circa 24,000 sensors, providing real-time monitoring of its sewer network, enabling the company to better detect and fix issues as they occur;
Southern Water now has one of the highest rates of storm overflow (EDM) monitoring in the UK (circa 99%), increasing the accuracy and transparency of its reporting;
continued to improve the operational performance and compliance of pumping stations and treatment works, reducing serious pollution incidents by 58% in 2022, from 12 to 5;
maintained water leakage at 17%, compared to the UK industry average of 23%. Southern Water is aiming to reduce water leakage to 10% by 2050
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