The water company accused of pumping millions of liters of wastewater into Lake Windermere has handed out almost £340m to shareholders as it celebrates a record year.
United Utilities made just under £2bn in revenue in the 12 months to March 31, up 8.1 per cent on the previous year. It also paid dividends worth £339m.
And with the pollution row once again engulfing the industry, the company’s chief executive, Louise Beardmore, insisted it takes “its role in protecting the environment very seriously”.
The comments and excellent results come just a day after United Utilities was accused of failing to stop illegal pollution of one of the UK’s most famous lakes.
In February, a technical fault caused raw sewage to be released into Windermere, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site in the Lake District.
Payments: BT chief executive Lauren Beardmore insisted it takes its role in protecting the environment “very seriously”
But the Environment Agency was not notified of the contamination until 13 hours after the leak began, according to the BBC.
A series of scandals follow, including a similar incident at the lake two years ago that turned miles of water bright green.
The industry is currently in crisis as United Utilities and its peers have struggled with spiraling debt.
Despite record revenues (worth more than £5m a day), United Utilities’ profits fell by more than a third to £170m last year as it spent more on paying its debt.
But the company still paid a dividend of 49.78 pence per share, which was an increase of more than 9 per cent on the previous year, representing a total of £339m for investors.
Campaigners yesterday said it was “crazy” that it was paying out bigger dividends when it was causing such serious environmental damage.
Matt Staniek, founder of the group Save Windermere, called for more to be done to hold the company accountable.
He said: ‘The impact (of sewage) on Windermere is simply appalling. It’s simply not down to climate, rainfall or combined systems – it’s a lack of investment to properly address these issues.’
And he said spills would continue to occur as the regulator appeared to be “fast asleep.”
Spill: A technical fault in February caused raw sewage to reach Windermere, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site in the Lake District.
Staniek added that anger among residents and local businesses was growing.
“The reason Windermere features so prominently in the national narrative is because millions of people visit it every year,” he said. “It is the town’s lake and one of the country’s greatest natural assets.”
In a statement, Beardmore said: “Colleagues have worked exceptionally hard all year to deliver for our customers, communities and the environment.”
Referring to the Lake District as “a special place”, he said United Utilities was “accelerating” a £400m investment to reduce spills in places like Windermere.
He also said the company had met or exceeded about 80 percent of its regulatory targets.
The chief executive took up the top job last year on a base salary of £690,000.
You must reduce the number of spills by at least 8 per cent to qualify for a bonus of up to £900,000.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The UK water sector continues to be in the spotlight and there is much work to be done to restore public confidence.”
Water industry regulator Ofwat said: “The environmental performance of water and wastewater companies is simply not good enough and they need to go further and faster.”
