Drip, drip, drip. No, not Thames Water’s leaky pipes on this occasion. Rather, the dripping sound comes from the highly conditional cash injections from the company’s consortium of shareholders.
The chair of regulator Ofwat suggested to parliament last week that £1bn was the minimum required from Thames’s owners before 2025 (on top of the £500m that arrived in March), but the consortium has indicated it is prepared to cough up only £750m in the period. So there is a £250m shortfall. Don’t worry, it’s just a minor matter of phasing, says Thames, pointing to a further £2.5bn injection from shareholders that is “expected” in the next regulatory period, which runs from 2025-30.
