Thames Water’s biggest investor has slashed the value of its stake in the company to zero in a move that renders the troubled supplier effectively worthless, The Telegraph can disclose.
The Canadian pension fund Omers said it has been forced into a “full write down” of its investment in Thames, a day after withdrawing its representative from the utility company’s board.
The write-down represents a complete loss for Omers, which valued its 31.7pc stake in Thames’ parent Kemble at £700m at the end of 2022.
Newly filed documents for a Singapore-registered entity owned by Omers reveal the investment giant’s latest position on Thames, which is racing to avoid a taxpayer-backed bailout.
The latest accounts show it had valued its stake in Thames’ parent Kemble at around £260m in December, which represented a 62.8pc fall over the last financial year.
However, this has since fallen to zero after Omers joined other shareholders in cutting off funding from Thames, claiming it had been rendered “uninvestable”.
This shortfall led to Kemble, Thames’ parent, defaulting on its debts earlier this year.
Omers’ bosses said these events, which took place after its year-end in December, have led to “a full write-off of the investment”.
This marks the latest blow for Thames Water, which is at risk of collapsing under the weight of its £18bn debt pile.
Government-backed contingency plans are being drawn up should this happen, which could cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
Almost like water is a utility and shouldn’t be turned into a profit driven enterprise.
Literally the dumbest thing that any country has ever done is privatise its water supply.
Wait, so hollowing out the country’s largest water utility for years has negatively affected its viability? Can’t really blame them, nobody could reasonably have seen that one coming.
Great, then the UK gov can buy it for £1
All according to plan.
So I guess the government can bring it back into public ownership without paying the shareholders anything, given that it’s a worthless asset that costs so much to run they’d be doing them a favour…
Ok, can U grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Ok, can I grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Ok, can I grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Nationalize it again, it should be publicly owned.
Nationalize it again, it should be publicly owned.
“I can’t believe this company that we milked for all its worth and loaded up with debt to fund our dividend payments is now worthless”
£15 Bn in debt. Still paying dividends by moving money around its group of companies. What a racket.
It’s not “worthless” to its millions of poor bloody “customers” that need not to die of thirst.
You mean they have loaded it with debt, raided it for every penny and now investors don’t want to touch it 🤔
It’s a mystery
It was alway worthless, that’s why we always had to subsidise it
Worst company I’ve ever had the displeasure of being forced to rely on…
It was alway worthless, that why the tax payer had to constantly subsidise it. There are vital thing we can’t live without that can’t churn a profit for the private investors.
anyone know how much in dividends this company paid out since being privatised?
That’s ok we won’t pay anything to privatize it then.
Not surprised they’re under water
Starting to think the Tory government are basically a dictatorship masked as a democratic party
And Labour wont privatise water. It’s in more debt than what it gave out in shareholder profits. Stupid
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t that mean a government buyout would be cheaper?
Won’t somebody please think of the shareholders!!!! /s
25 comments
***The Telegraph reports:***
Thames Water’s biggest investor has slashed the value of its stake in the company to zero in a move that renders the troubled supplier effectively worthless, The Telegraph can disclose.
The Canadian pension fund Omers said it has been forced into a “full write down” of its investment in Thames, a day after withdrawing its representative from the utility company’s board.
The write-down represents a complete loss for Omers, which valued its 31.7pc stake in Thames’ parent Kemble at £700m at the end of 2022.
Newly filed documents for a Singapore-registered entity owned by Omers reveal the investment giant’s latest position on Thames, which is racing to avoid a taxpayer-backed bailout.
The latest accounts show it had valued its stake in Thames’ parent Kemble at around £260m in December, which represented a 62.8pc fall over the last financial year.
However, this has since fallen to zero after Omers joined other shareholders in cutting off funding from Thames, claiming it had been rendered “uninvestable”.
This shortfall led to Kemble, Thames’ parent, defaulting on its debts earlier this year.
Omers’ bosses said these events, which took place after its year-end in December, have led to “a full write-off of the investment”.
This marks the latest blow for Thames Water, which is at risk of collapsing under the weight of its £18bn debt pile.
Government-backed contingency plans are being drawn up should this happen, which could cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
**Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/17/thames-water-is-worthless-says-biggest-investor/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/17/thames-water-is-worthless-says-biggest-investor/)
Almost like water is a utility and shouldn’t be turned into a profit driven enterprise.
Literally the dumbest thing that any country has ever done is privatise its water supply.
Wait, so hollowing out the country’s largest water utility for years has negatively affected its viability? Can’t really blame them, nobody could reasonably have seen that one coming.
Great, then the UK gov can buy it for £1
All according to plan.
So I guess the government can bring it back into public ownership without paying the shareholders anything, given that it’s a worthless asset that costs so much to run they’d be doing them a favour…
Ok, can U grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Ok, can I grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Ok, can I grab it off you for a fiver? If labour win I’ll donate it to the state and ask for a lordship…
If they don’t I’ll get the bloody water running again lads no worries!
Nationalize it again, it should be publicly owned.
Nationalize it again, it should be publicly owned.
“I can’t believe this company that we milked for all its worth and loaded up with debt to fund our dividend payments is now worthless”
£15 Bn in debt. Still paying dividends by moving money around its group of companies. What a racket.
It’s not “worthless” to its millions of poor bloody “customers” that need not to die of thirst.
You mean they have loaded it with debt, raided it for every penny and now investors don’t want to touch it 🤔
It’s a mystery
It was alway worthless, that’s why we always had to subsidise it
Worst company I’ve ever had the displeasure of being forced to rely on…
It was alway worthless, that why the tax payer had to constantly subsidise it. There are vital thing we can’t live without that can’t churn a profit for the private investors.
anyone know how much in dividends this company paid out since being privatised?
That’s ok we won’t pay anything to privatize it then.
Not surprised they’re under water
Starting to think the Tory government are basically a dictatorship masked as a democratic party
And Labour wont privatise water. It’s in more debt than what it gave out in shareholder profits. Stupid
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t that mean a government buyout would be cheaper?
Won’t somebody please think of the shareholders!!!! /s