BREAKING: Good Morning Britain interrupted for ‘BREAKING NEWS’ as host shares SH0CKING Update
Good Morning Britain was interrupted as the programme shared an urgent update. Sean Fletcher, who joined presenters Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins in the studio, announced that Thames Water has reported an annual pretax loss of £1.65 billion. He told viewers: “Breaking news in the last hour. Despite customers being charged with higher bills, Thames Water has reported a loss of over £1.6 billion for the past year, down from a £157 million profit the year before.
“In the annual report, Thames said the loss is down to fines imposed by the regulator and costs associated with trying to save the company from collapse. The company also paid their CEO just over £1 million.” Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, said: “We recognise that our current gearing is too high and, to address this, we are progressing with our Senior Creditors’ plan to recapitalise the business which will see us return to a more stable financial foundation.
“This will come with a requirement to reset the regulatory landscape and acknowledge it will take at least a decade to turn Thames around.”
He added the firm has made “good progress in operational performance, despite the ongoing challenging financial situation”.
It comes after the water company booked a £1.27 billion bad debt provision on intercompany loans and set aside £122 million for fines from Ofwat, among other costs.
Its annual report indicated that its net debt ballooned by an additional £1.65 billion throughout the year, while also admitting to a “disappointing” track record on pollution and sewage leaks.
These disclosures emerge as the company continues negotiations for rescue funding deal with senior creditors, especially after KKR, a private equity firm, abandoned its proposal to provide crucial financial support last month.
The latest figures indicate that Thames Water’s debt has soared to £16.8 billion. On Monday, the company announced a hosepipe ban for customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and some parts of Berkshire, which will begin next Tuesday.
The water company said the temporary measure will be brought in after the Environment Agency placed its area into the “prolonged dry weather category”.
