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      Thames Water break-up is a promising idea | Nils Pratley

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 16 April - 04:00

    It is unlikely that the company’s owners will invest more or it will be fully nationalised, but its structure needs a rethink

    Set your watches: Ofwat, the water regulator, has fixed the date for when it will publish its so-called “draft determination” – in other words, its first view on how far each water and wastewater company should be allowed to raise its bills in the five-year period that starts next spring.

    Wednesday 12 June is the day when the outside world will be able to look at the assessment that caused the current owners of Thames to say a fortnight ago that Ofwat had made their company “uninvestable” and they wouldn’t be putting in another penny. Thames’s murky future may become slightly less murky at that point.

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      Thames Water has six weeks to agree survival plan with Ofwat

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 14 April - 14:59


    While the company believes it has cash to last 15 months it will have to move fast to stave off insolvency

    Thames Water has just six weeks to convince its regulator that it has a viable survival plan for its business, the Guardian can reveal.

    While the company believes it has enough cash to survive for around 15 months, insiders and investors fear that it must move quickly to strike a deal with its watchdog to stave off insolvency.

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      Thames Water funding crisis: the key players in the row over its future

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 6 April - 09:00

    In latest twist to finger-pointing standoff, debt-stricken supplier’s parent company has defaulted on loan

    The standoff between Thames Water, its shareholders, the government and the industry regulator is beginning to resemble the final scene of Reservoir Dogs. As Britain’s biggest water supplier creaks, the finger pointing over its financial woes is under way.

    Its executives and shareholders believe the regulator Ofwat has been too stringent, making the company “uninvestible” . Regulators have not caved in to Thames’s claims that it needs to hike customer bills, pay out dividends and receive lower environmental fines to survive, perhaps viewing it as brinkmanship.

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      Thames Water parent tells creditors it has defaulted on debt

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 5 April - 11:55

    Missed interim payment raises prospect of collapse or restructure of troubled company

    The parent company of troubled Thames Water has told its creditors it has defaulted on its debt, raising the prospect that the company could collapse or face a significant restructure.

    Kemble Water has missed an interest payment that was due on Tuesday and said it was requesting its lenders and bondholders to take no creditor action so as to “provide a stable platform while all options are explored” with its stakeholders.

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      Number of households seeking help over energy debt legal action doubles

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 5 April - 05:00


    Suppliers increasingly opting to take customer to court to recover unpaid bills, Citizens Advice says

    The number of households seeking help to deal with court action over their unpaid energy bills has doubled in the last year, according to Citizens Advice.

    The charity said suppliers were increasingly opting to take their customers to court to recover their energy debts, which could ruin household finances for years.

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      Thames Water owner bond slumps to record lows amid uncertainty over firm

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 2 April - 11:06

    Fall to 14.4p comes after shareholders said they were unwilling to inject further funds

    A bond issued by Thames Water’s parent company has fallen to record lows as the embattled company scrambles to secure its future, and the government signalled it is “ready to step in if necessary”.

    The £400m bond, issued by the water supplier’s parent company, Kemble, has slumped to only 14.4p after shareholders indicated that they were unwilling to inject further funds into the heavily indebted utility company.

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      Thames Water on road to state rescue amid investor standoff with Ofwat

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 28 March - 18:36

    After regulator resists 40% increase in bills, shareholders deny request for more cash – raising spectre of nationalisation

    • Who will win in standoff between Thames’s investors and watchdog?

    Thames Water appears to be on the road to nationalisation after its investors signalled they were unwilling to pump more money into the debt-laden utilities company, amid a standoff with the regulator and government over raising customer bills.

    Britain’s biggest water supplier said on Thursday its shareholders had refused to provide £500m of emergency funding due this week to secure ithe company’s short-term cashflow.

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      Fresh crisis for Thames Water as investors pull plug on £500m of funding

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 28 March - 07:39

    Decision raises concerns about financial future of UK’s biggest water company

    Investors at Thames Water have pulled the plug on £500m of emergency funding, raising concerns about the financial future of the country’s largest water company.

    The beleaguered utilities firm announced this morning that its shareholders had refused to provide the first tranche of £750m funding set to secure its short-term cashflow, after the company had failed to meet certain conditions.

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