- Pennon Group plc (LON:PNN), owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water, today released interim results showing strong growth in revenues, accompanied by improved environmental outcomes and a 4.9% increase in the interim dividend to shareholders.
- The shares reacted positively to the results, rising almost 1% in early trading, before succumbing to the broader weakness sweeping the stock market today.
Q3 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
A Look At Pennon Group's Interim Results
Commenting on the results, Steve Clayton, manager of the HL Select funds said:
“These are a solid set of figures from Pennon today. Revenues have grown organically, further boosted by the addition of Bristol Water to the group. Encouragingly, Pennon say that Bristol Water is performing ahead of expectations. The group are claiming some impressive improvements in environmental performance, with a 100% clean waters outcomes for the regions bathing beaches and big reductions in flooding events. In a sign of things to come, Pennon highlight how the use of AI is helping them to identify where to make pre-emptive repairs, already driving sewer collapses down by 40% versus last year.
The group’s financial performance is strong, with outperformance against regulatory targets accompanied by strong balance sheet management, that has driven the group’s effective interest rate down to 2.9%. Pennon’s strong management of the business has allowed it to set a best-in-class dividend policy of CPI+2% growth each year, reflected in almost 5% growth this year. With the scale of the regulated asset base set to grow significantly over the rest of the current regulatory price regime, the group look well set to continue making attractive dividend increases in the years ahead.”
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