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| Thames Water will take decade to turn around, says boss | Thames Water will take decade to turn around, says boss |
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| Thames Water will "take at least a decade to turn around", its boss has said, as the struggling company posted huge annual losses. | Thames Water will "take at least a decade to turn around", its boss has said, as the struggling company posted huge annual losses. |
| Thames reported a loss of £1.65bn for the year to March, in which its debt pile climbed to £16.8bn. | Thames reported a loss of £1.65bn for the year to March, in which its debt pile climbed to £16.8bn. |
| The UK's largest water and waste company claimed "significant rainfall and high groundwater levels" led to pollution incidents increasing by more than a third, but said it had tried to address "many of the underlying causes of our poor performance". | |
| The results come as bosses are set to be quizzed by MPs later, with the company's future still uncertain since fears it could collapse first emerged two years ago. | The results come as bosses are set to be quizzed by MPs later, with the company's future still uncertain since fears it could collapse first emerged two years ago. |
| Thames serves about a quarter of the UK's population, mostly across London and parts of southern England, and employs 8,000 people. | Thames serves about a quarter of the UK's population, mostly across London and parts of southern England, and employs 8,000 people. |
| Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, said the company had made "good progress" on its performance, "despite the ongoing challenging financial situation". | |
| But the firm continues to face heavy criticism over its performance in recent years, following a series of sewage discharges and leaks. | |
| In May it was handed a a £122.7m fine, the biggest ever issued by the water industry regulator Ofwat, for breaching rules on sewage spills and shareholder payouts. | |
| Thames said the number of pollution incidents increased to 470 from 350 in the last calendar year. | |
| Mr Weston said "prolonged wet weather meant further rain had nowhere to go other than to inundate our ageing and fragile sewer network". | |
| "Reducing pollutions and discharges is something we're really focused on, and we plan to invest record amounts in our waste network during the next five years," he added. | |
| On Monday, Thames became the latest supplier to announce a hosepipe ban, which will begin next Tuesday for customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and some parts of Berkshire. | |
| The dire state of the company's finances emerged in June 2023, but Thames managed to secure a £3bn rescue loan earlier this year to stave off collapse. | |
| However, the company suffered a major blow in its bid to secure its future in June when US private equity firm KKR pulled out of a further £4bn rescue deal. | |
| The setback has increased the possibility that the company could collapse into a government-supervised administration. | |
| Mr Weston said Thames recognised that its current gearing, which indicates how much a company depends on debt to fund its operations, was "too high". | |
| "To address this, we are progressing with our senior creditors' plan to recapitalise the business which will see us return to a more stable financial foundation," he added. | |
| "This will come with a requirement to re-set the regulatory landscape and acknowledge it will take at least a decade to turn Thames around." | |
| Regardless of what happens to Thames or who owns the company, its water services will continue as normal. |