Water firm profits double as it hikes bills

Windermere turned green in 2022 due to an algal bloom caused by its poor water quality

The profit of water firm United Utilities doubled last year before it hit customers with a steep rise in bills.

The company's pre-tax profits more than doubled to £355m for the year ending 31 March 2025 before a 32% hike in bills was introduced to fund £13.7bn in pipe and sewer upgrades.

The company has been accused of illegally pumping raw sewage into Lake Windermere in recent years.

United Utilities said it had delivered "another strong set of results" and it pointed to the company cutting sewage spills per storm overflow by a quarter last year.

The water firm's biggest annual rise came in April this year when bills surged by an average of £86 for a typical household.

More than seven million United Utilities customers living in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, most of Cheshire and parts of Derbyshire are to see bills rise by an average of 32% over the next five years.

• United Utilities hike: How will my bills change?

The company said it planned to increase its dividend payout to investors by 4.2%.

Chief executive Louise Beardmore said: "We have delivered another strong set of results for customers, communities and the environment in the North West."

United Utilities was recently accused of failing to report more than 100 million litres of untreated sewage that it illegally dumped into Windermere over a three-year period.

United Utilities supplies millions of households in the North West

Ms Beardmore told MPs in February that the firm's record on spills and flooding "isn't good enough".

She took home a pay packet of £1.4m last year, made up of a base salary valued at £690,000, plus benefits, bonuses and long-term share awards.

The UK's privatised water companies have faced growing public outrage over the extent of pollution, rising bills, high dividends and executive pay and bonuses.

The results come after a survey revealed households' trust in water companies had fallen to a new low.

Fewer households - 53%, down 2% on last year to another all-time low - believe the amount water companies charge is fair, according to the Consumer Council for Water's (CCW) annual Water Matters study.