Water industry investors have withdrawn billions, claims research

5 comments

1. > The University of Greenwich examined the company accounts of the top 10 water and sewage companies in England and Wales including Thames Water, United Utilities and Severn Trent.

   Yes. Go on.

   > It said that between privatisation in 1989 and 2023, money invested by shareholders in the largest firms shrunk by £5.5bn when adjusted for inflation.

   Aha, ok, what else.

   > Over the same period, the amount of “retained earnings” – profits left over once things like dividends have been paid out, that can be used to invest in a business – had dropped by £6.7bn in real terms.

   > Meanwhile, the total amount that these firms paid out to their shareholders in dividends grew to £72.8bn, when taking inflation into account.

   > Taken together, the fall in shareholders’ investment and retained earnings – or profit – and rising dividend payments mean that, according to the University of Greenwich, owners have withdrawn £85.2bn.

   > But Mr Hall said: “You put the prices up because you can and you get more money out of the customers, and then you pass it on to the shareholders because the business you’re in is providing a good return to your shareholders.

   So, they put less in, pull more out to their own pockets, and you get the bullshit services and environmental clusterfuck thats now being observed.

   > ***”That’s why the companies do what they do and we shouldn’t expect anything different.”***

   But privatisation makes services more efficient! Anyone who says this should be told to STFU and stop fucking lying. All it does is extract wealth from those who can least afford it, and funnel it to those who have done the least to earn it. Fuck all the gvts that have allowed this to happen.

   Your bills go up, not to improve services, but to line the pockets of these viruses.

2. They always wheel out the ‘ pension funds invest in utilities’ line when there’s any hint of them being allowed to fail or not pay dividends, with the onus always being on raising bills

   ….you know, that pension funds can just as easily de- invest and move elsewhere and they should.

   Let the water companies fail, Ofwat has failed to do it’s job and our politicians are complicit.

   Fine them everyday, limit their dividends,let them fail, buy back for peanuts.

   Something something ,Take back control.

3. What do you think they were in it for? The natural interest in a national utility?

4. The only thing left is to jail all those in charge or eat the rich. . .

5. Research shows all the money was taken out as dividends by greedy shareholders and not invested in the infrastructure supplying a vital resource? I’m SHOCKED. SHOCKED I tell you. That’s so *unlike* our privately owned water companies to not have the national interested at heart!