UNITED Utilities, the Warrington-based water and wastewater company, said it is trading in line with expectations, in an update to the market today for the period from October 1.
It said revenue has continued to increase at a rate slightly lower than that allowed by the industry watchdog, Ofwat, due to the impact of the ongoing tough economic conditions on its customers as well as power and other costs.
But it said it continues to make good progress on its network investment programme which will be worth around £750m in the current financial year to March 2013.
Water resources for the area are “robust” with reservoirs current about 90% full, it said.
The company’s customer performance also continues to improve and United Utilities has moved up four places over the third quarter to 12th, out of 21 water companies around the country.
It said it has had no customer complaints requiring investigation by the Consumer Council for Water in the first nine months of the financial year.
The company’s financial position remains “robust”, it said and it is confident of delivering “a good underlying financial performance for the year ending March 31, 2013,” it added.
It said: “The company remains strongly focused on building on its recent operational and customer service progress and sees plenty of scope to deliver further improvements.”
