United Utilities pays £340m dividend after Windermere sewage scandal

The water company accused of pumping millions of litres of sewage into Lake Windermere has dished out nearly £340million to shareholders as it celebrates a record year.

United Utilities raked in just under £2billion in revenues in the 12 months to March 31 – up 8.1 per cent on the previous year. It also paid dividends worth £339million.

And with the row over pollution 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 the bumper results, came just a day after United Utilities was accused of failing to stop the illegal pollution of one of the UK’s most famous lakes.

A technical fault in February led to untreated sewage pouring into Windermere, which is part of the Unesco World Heritage site in the Lake District.

Payouts: BT chief exec Lauren Beardmore insisted it takes its ‘role in protecting the environment very seriously’

But the Environment Agency was only notified of the pollution 13 hours after the leak started, according to the BBC.

It follows a string of scandals, including a similar incident at the lake two years ago which turned miles of water bright green.

The industry is presently gripped in crisis as United Utilities and its peers have struggled with spiralling debts.

Despite the record revenues – worth more than £5million a day – profits at United Utilities fell by more than a third to £170million last year as it spent more paying back its debt.

But the company still paid out a dividend of 49.78p per share, which was up more than 9 per cent on the previous year, amounting to a total of £339million for investors.

Campaigners yesterday said it was ‘insane’ for it to dish out higher dividends when it was causing such stark 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 just atrocious. It is simply not due to climate, rainfall or combined systems – it is a lack of investment to adequately deal with these issues.’

And he said spillages would continue to occur as the regulator appeared to be ‘fast asleep’.

Spill: A technical fault in February led to untreated sewage pouring into Windermere, which is part of the Unesco World Heritage site in the Lake District

Anger among the local residents and businesses was building, Staniek added.

‘The reason Windermere is so prominent in the national narrative is because millions of people visit it every year,’ he said. ‘It is the people’s lake and one of the country’s greatest natural assets.’

In a statement, Beardmore said: ‘Colleagues have worked exceptionally hard throughout the year to deliver for our customers, communities and the environment.’

Referring to the Lake District as ‘a special place’, she said that United Utilities was ‘fast-tracking’ a £400million investment in reducing spills at locations such as Windermere.

She also said the company had met or exceeded around 80 per cent of its regulatory targets.

The chief executive took on the top job last year on a base salary of £690,000.

She must reduce the number of spillages by at least 8 per cent in order to be paid a bonus of up to £900,000.

Aarin Chiekrie, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The UK water sector continues to find itself in the spotlight, and there’s significant work to do in restoring public confidence and trust.’

The water industry’s regulator Ofwat said: ‘Water and wastewater companies’ performance on the environment is simply not good enough and they need to go further, faster.’