Investors at Thames Water have pulled the plug on £500m of emergency funding, raising concerns about the financial future of the country’s largest water company.
The beleaguered utilities firm announced this morning that its shareholders had refused to provide the first tranche of £750m funding set to secure its short-term cashflow, after the company had failed to meet certain conditions.
In July, Thames Water had agreed £750m of funding, with the first payment expected to be made on the 31 March.
This was with the condition that the company provided a turnaround plan that delivered improvements for customers, the environment and other stakeholders over the next three years.
That turnaround plan was published in October but Thames Water confirmed on Wednesday that investors believed these conditions had not been met and the £500m of new equity would not be handed over in the coming days.
Chris Weston, the chief executive of Thames Water, said: “I’d like to reassure our customers that, despite this announcement, it is business as usual for Thames Water. Our 8,000 staff remain committed to working with our partners in the supply chain to provide our services for the benefit of our customers, communities and the environment.”