Resilient performance for Pennon Group in a challenging year

01st June 2023

FTSE 250 business focussed on re-building trust through action

Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, Bournemouth Water and Bristol Water has today announced its Full Year Results focusing on the things that matter right now for customers and communities and investing more than ever. 

The Group has around 3,000 dedicated colleagues serving a population of around 3.5 million and is one of the largest employers in the region. 

Susan Davy, CEO of Pennon Group, said: “This has been an extraordinary year for Pennon in which extreme weather patterns have tested our operational resilience.  At the same time, inflationary pressures have tested our financial resilience.  We have been able to respond to both, with agility and pace, pivoting to focus on the things that matter right now, and tackling the biggest challenges head on. Whether it’s the use of storm overflows, water resilience, the cost of living crisis or climate change, we are investing more than ever before. 

“We are doing more than ever to support customers and communities with £85m of support to date. And we have increased our overall investment year on year by around 50% - further proof that we are listening to our customers and taking more action than ever before to reduce our use of storm overflows. We are responding to climate change by building stronger water resilience using innovative solutions. We are tackling the biggest challenges head on, focusing on the things that matter most, investing more, and in building the capabilities for the future. We want our customers to have a water company they can be proud of.” 

The Group is reporting resilient, financial, and operational performance amid inflation pressure and a stronger focus on agile action. Improvements reported today include: 

Improving environmental performance:  

• 100% bathing water quality for the second consecutive year  
• 30% reduction in storm overflow use  
• 50% reduction in wastewater pollutions 

Building resilience:  

• Desalination plans underway 
• Innovative repurposing of disused quarries 
• New pipelines under development  
• Encouraging customers to use less water and save money 

Supporting customers, communities, and colleagues:  

• Below inflation bill increases for 2023 / 2024 
• £85M provided to customer support to date 
• £40M returned to customers through unique WaterShare+ scheme 

WaterShare+ scheme puts customers more in control, either by taking money off their bill or investing in Pennon Group, building on the 1 in 14 households in the South West who have already done so. Susan Davy has previously announced she will forgo her bonus with the equivalent amount being invested into WaterShare+ directly benefiting customers. 

Pennon were one of the first water companies in the UK to install 100% monitoring across all storm overflows, a year ahead of schedule. 

The company launched their industry leading interactive tool, WaterFit Live in early 2023 giving customers and visitors to the region, near real time information about their favourite bathing beach, and details of storm overflows, as well as the detailed investments they are making. As part of this ‘Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment’ is giving people the opportunity to influence how and where we invest in the future.