Water firms push for higher shareholder returns as Ofwat considers bills increase

20 comments

1. Fuck ’em, they should be in prison, not given more money.

2. Sorry they want higher prices so they can pay their rich share holders more money? Is this an actual piss take?

3. Sorry they want higher prices so they can pay their rich share holders more money? Is this an actual piss take?

4. Sorry they want higher prices so they can pay their rich share holders more money? Is this an actual piss take?

5. > Water companies want to see higher returns for shareholders to ensure record investment into sewage infrastructure, pipes and treatment plants is delivered.

   Something seems off here, why haven’t they been doing this all along?

6. Translation – “let us bump the prices up and claim its to work the infrastructure when in reality we want to syphon it off for shareholders and pretend like we are not just trying to milk the last pennies out that we can”?

7. >Companies say higher returns are needed to ensure record infrastructure investmen

   So ‘give us more money and we will be able to do what you have already paid us to do’. Fuck off!

8. Congratulations on winning “Corr we’ve got some nerve” award this year.

9. The only way this should go ahead is if it’s tied to them meeting ambitious targets on cutting pollition etc and not on the basis of them just committing to “invest” more. My patience on investment promises and the like has ran out, either start delivering actual results or fek off.

10. My friend works at Thames water. Their official behind the scenes stance on this is:

    If we don’t give dividends to our shareholders, and operate at a loss, then any future investment will stop because they’ll realize they won’t get a return on their investment, therefore to help us get out of this mess we’ve created, we must still give large dividends to our shareholders so that we don’t go bankcrupt which we will without future investment.

11. Privatising amenities was such a great idea. That’s where this went wrong.

12. Water is requirement for human survival, they are lucky they are getting what they already are.

13. So the water companies were all sold for around £8 billion, but have paid out a combined £65 billion in dividends since privatisation, and now they say they deserve more??

    I think that’s already a bloody good return on investment, no?

14. Do Russian Oligarchs own these companies, absolute rip of of the tax payer.

15. Hahahaha. They don’t give a fuck do they.

    Scum.

16. Regulators need to treat their regulated entities like smack heads asking for a fiver.

    It’s going on smack regardless of what they tell you it’s for.

17. You wait until news of Design, Build & Operate contracts breaks.

    The premise that to achieve enough funding Water Companies get Private Investors to pay for, Build and *Operate* new assets.

    In a nutshell that’s given anyone with enough money the chance to decide how to run critical drinking water plant with effectively no repercussions

18. I know a few people working for a big water company, it sounds like an utter shit show being an employee at the moment, any perks are being stripped back and there’s hiring freezes, if someone leaves someone else has to pick up the slack. Of course this all leads to even worse performance….

19. So leaking pipes, sewage into rivers, no investment and they want MORE money, that’s a nope.

    Invest to save money, invest to make our natural world better and then perhaps you can have a better return, you know, like a business

20. For companies that are solvent and have met all their targets why not an inflation rate increase?

    For those that haven’t met the requirements, foreclosure time.

    The market gives to those who succeed and it takes from those who fail.

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