Congratulations to Thames Water: it is not going bust early in the new year. Probably. The necessary three-quarters of A-class bondholders have backed a proposal for the company, already drowning in £15bn of debt, to borrow another £3bn at the nose-bleed rate of 9.75% plus a hefty serving of fees on top. And, critically, the numbers are looking good to get permission from bondholders to access £400m of cash reserves.
A court still has to approve the new £3bn of “super senior” funding – meaning debt that ought to be super-safe because it ranks above both the A class of bonds and the junior Bs. But if that hurdle is cleared next month, Thames will have shoved its debt mess around another U-bend. The script then imagines a more permanent restructuring of the finances – surely with hefty debt write-downs – at some point in the next 18 months. The company may also take a detour to the Competition and Markets Authority to appeal against Ofwat’s final proposal (also due next month) on bills for the next five-year period.
