UNITED Utilities (UU) expects the sale of its remaining non-regulated businesses to realise £600m, which the group will retain.

And the Warrington-based water company said in a trading update that changes to corporation tax after June’s Budget should net more than £200m over five years, with about £50m anticipated in the current financial year.

The boost will benefit the company, which had price cuts for its water customers imposed by industry watchdog Ofwat over the current five year regulatory pricing review to 2015, together with increased levels of investment to deliver service improvements.

Chief executive Philip Green said the business remains on course, but that underlying operating profits in the regulated water division will be lower due to the new pricing structure.

He said: “The group is on track to deliver results in line with our expectations, reflecting the impact of the recent regulatory price review.

“In line with our strategy of focusing on our core activities, we have now agreed the sale of the vast majority of our non-regulated businesses for a total value of approximately £600m.

“We believe that, with the group’s consistent focus on its core activities and the low cost of its debt portfolio, we are well-positioned to deliver outperformance over the 2010-2015 regulatory period.”