Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds has written to Ofwat flagging up Government concerns about the proposed Thames Water rescue package put forward by the company’s creditors, according to a number of reports in the UK press this morning.

The water companies in England and Wales face significant operational and financial challenges during the 2025-2030 AMP8 investment period, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings on the UK water sector.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has today published a highly critical report saying that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and water regulators have failed to drive necessary investment for the sector, which now faces significant environmental, supply and infrastructure challenges.

Fitch's UK Water lead analyst Yeshvir Singh, Senior Director at Fitch Ratings explains why Ofwat’s Final Determination (FD) for the AMP8 regulatory period April 2025 to March 2030 marks a key milestone for the assessment of the UK water sector’s regulatory framework.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Southern Water (Finance) PLC (SWF) senior secured class A debt rating to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' and placed it on Rating Watch Negative (RWN) – SWF is the financing company of Southern Water Services Ltd (SWS).

The UK water sector's total expenditure (totex) is likely to more than double in the upcoming AMP8 2025-2030 regulatory period, according to Fitch Ratings latest UK Water - Relative Credit Analysis report released this morning.

Severn Trent Plc is anticipating “at least £50 million in ODI rewards this year”, according to its latest trading update for the period to 13 February 2024.

Ofwat is today confirming the financial penalties and payments for all water companies for the 2022-23 year, with the majority of companies having to return money to customers. Thames Water will return the most to customers, with a final determination of £73.8 million.

Ofwat has published a new paper setting out how it has used collaborative customer research to set Outcome Delivery Incentive (ODI) rates for the 2024 price review (PR24) in which the regulator acknowledges the limitations of the data collection process.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Thames Water’s holding company Kemble Water Finance Limited's (Kemble) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B' from 'B+' and senior secured debt rating to 'B' from 'B+'. The Outlook on the IDR is Negative.