South East Water pays out £2.3m dividend amid Ofwat probe

Bottled water stations were set up during supply interruptions

A water company currently under investigation by regulator Ofwat has revealed it has paid out £2.3m in dividends to investors.

Ofwat is investigating South East Water over its service to customers and record in maintaining a water supply.

The firm said the £2.3m was down on the £4.5m paid a year earlier and less than Ofwat's view of what was reasonable.

South East Water has been named as the worst-performing firm providing water only by the Consumer Council for Water.

Announcing the firm's half-year results, South East Water bosses said: "Unprecedented extreme weather events were the cause of the majority of supply interruptions, but we appreciate that problems experienced by our customers will result in lower levels of customer satisfaction.

"We are deeply sorry to customers who have been affected by supply interruptions and continue to work tirelessly to recover.

"We have 52 teams actively repairing leaks, and 40 technicians proactively looking for them."

A hosepipe ban was imposed earlier in the year, with the firm blaming hot weather

Jenny Suggate, director of policy, research and campaigns at the Consumer Council for Water, said: "South East Water's performance on complaints and the disruption its customers have experienced to their water supply is among the worst in the country.

"People will rightly question how it can justify rewarding its shareholders when it has such widespread service problems.

"Customers do not expect to see executives or shareholders rewarded for failure, so the company should explain how this pay-out is justified."

The company took a cost hit of £3m from summer heatwaves and supply interruptions, figures showed. The bill included £1.5m in compensation and £700,000 for providing bottled water to households and customers.

It had imposed a hosepipe ban in the summer, blaming exceptionally hot weather.

It also said an increase in people working from home had ramped up demand and tested its infrastructure.

Customers turned to bottled water for supplies and schools closed during the summer

Schools closed, customers relied on bottled water stations and people were told to use water only for drinking, cooking and hygiene in order to allow the network to refill.

Half-year results showed costs surged, pushed higher by the water interruptions.

Figures showed the supplier reported pre-tax losses of £18.1m for the six months to 30 September, against losses of £12.7m a year earlier.

In November, Ofwat launched a probe into the firm saying "too many customers have been failed too often".

South East Water serves about 2.2m households and businesses in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire.

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