Chris Weston’s comments come ahead of a crunch Ofwat decision next week on whether Thames Water can increase consumer bills by 59%.
Thames Water’s chief executive has defended bosses getting £770,000 in bonuses despite regulators saying it was not justified, as he called for steep hikes to consumer bills to be approved next week.
Regulator Ofwat revealed in November that Thames Water was planning to use customer cash to pay the bonuses, but ruled that it was not “justified”. On Tuesday, Mr Weston said regulator Ofwat “must recognise” the fundraising when it makes its final decision on December 19. The company said on Tuesday that without the emergency cash, expected to be in place by the end of January, it would run out of money in March, which is sooner than a previous estimate of late May.
Meanwhile, Thames Water also revealed that it paid up to £51 million in fees to advisors over the six-month period as it sought to secure the emergency funding package.Chief financial officer Al Cochran said the “majority” of a £40 million and £11 million “exceptional items” on its balance sheet were payments to consultants and advisors.
Those include an offer from investment group Covalis, which could see the company broken up then re-listed on the stock market.
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