TIDMSVT
RNS Number : 2903X
Severn Trent PLC
23 November 2017
LEI: 213800RPBXRETY4A4C59
Half Yearly Financial Report
23 November 2017
Interim results for the six months to 30 September 2017
Strong customer delivery and investment across the network drive
continued progress
-- Group financial results for the half year reflect ongoing momentum:
- Group turnover of GBP850.4 million, up GBP30.4 million (3.7%)
- Group underlying PBIT(1) of GBP287.8 million, up GBP12.1 million (4.4%)
- Group reported PBIT GBP296.1 million, down 0.2%
- Underlying basic EPS(2) of 65.9 pence (up 7.7%). Reported
basic EPS from continuing operations 62.6 pence (down 20.2%)
- Interim dividend of 34.63p (up 6.2%)
-- Customers are at the heart of our business:
- Improved services: significant improvements in customer
ODIs(3) - including a 38% reduction in internal sewer floodings and
a 50% reduction in external floodings
- Lowest bills: on average less than GBP1/day; GBP32 p.a. less
than next cheapest in England and Wales
- Network improvements: investing over GBP3 billion of capex
during AMP6(4) for the future of our network. GBP324 million(5)
invested in H1 2017/18
- Vulnerable customers: beating our target to help over 50,000 customers this year
-- Delivering benefits for our stakeholders:
- Social responsibility: generating equivalent of 38% of energy
needs from renewables; on track for 50% by 2020. Commitment to move
our fleet to alternative fuel vehicles and embrace green energy
- Customer ODIs: we now forecast net outperformance payments of
at least GBP50 million, and expect to hit the Waste cap(6) for
AMP6
- Efficiencies: forecasting GBP770 million(7) AMP6 efficiencies,
with a further GBP50 million locked in during H1 2017/18. GBP660
million or 86% of total efficiencies now locked in
- Property profits: unlocking value in surplus land, helping the
housing shortage and benefitting customers through lower future
bills. GBP5 million - GBP15 million p.a. PBIT; c.GBP100million PBIT
over the next 10 years
- AMP7(8) : strong performance in AMP6 underpinning progress towards PR19(9)
Footnotes: see definitions on page 2 of this RNS
Liv Garfield, Chief Executive Severn Trent Plc, said:
"Our customer-first approach is delivering positive results. It
is also clear in today's society that businesses, including the
water sector, are under increasing scrutiny and greater pressure to
explain their contribution to society beyond financial profit. We
need to make sure our decisions strike the right balance between
all of our stakeholders and show we run our business in a
sustainable and responsible way.
As a result of the hard work of everyone at Severn Trent and
their focus on the areas that are most important to our customers,
we've reduced total sewer floodings by 48%. Strong operational
improvements have given us confidence to increase the FY2017/18
customer ODI forecast to at least GBP50 million, reflecting a great
start to this year. We've managed to do all this while keeping
bills down to less than a pound a day - the lowest average combined
bills in the country.
In maximising value from our assets for the longer term, we
today announce plans to sell land made available through
operational efficiency. This strategy will create benefits for our
customers, communities and investors.
The water sector has been transformed for the better over the
last 25 years, with more reliable, more efficient and more
environmentally friendly services, but there is still much to do.
At Severn Trent we're determined to rise to the challenge of
delivering even better value for money to customers."
Group results from continuing operations
Underlying results
Six months ended 30 September 2017 2016 Increase
(restated)(10)
GBPm GBPm %
Group turnover 850.4 820.0 3.7
Underlying group PBIT(1) 287.8 275.7 4.4
------------------------------- ------ --------------- ---------
pence/ pence/
share share
--------------------------- ------- ------- ----
Underlying basic EPS(2) 65.9 61.2 7.7
Interim dividend declared 34.63 32.60 6.2
--------------------------- ------- ------- ----
Reported results
Increase/
Six months ended 30 September 2017 2016 (decrease)
(restated)(10)
GBPm GBPm %
Group turnover 850.4 820.0 3.7
Group PBIT 296.1 296.7 (0.2)
------------------------------- ------ --------------- ------------
pence/ pence/
share share
-------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------
Basic EPS from continuing operations 62.6 78.4 (20.2)
-------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------
Footnotes to pages 1 & 2 of this RNS
1. Underlying profit before interest and tax (PBIT) excludes
exceptional operating items - see note 17 to the financial
statements
2. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) - see note 8 to the financial statements
3. Customer Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODIs), quoted pre-tax and at in 2012/13 prices
4. AMP6: Asset Management Plan regulatory period 2015-2020
5. Comprises infrastructure renewals expenditure and capital
expenditure in our Regulated Water and Waste Water business
6. For AMP6, our customer ODI outperformance payments for Waste
are capped at GBP190m (pre-tax at 2012/13 prices). To the end of
2016/17, we had earned GBP75m from our Waste customer ODIs, leaving
GBP115m remaining
7. Efficiencies quoted at actual and forecast nominal prices
8. AMP7: the 2020-2025 regulatory period.
9. Price Review (PR) 19: the consultation for 2020-2025
10. Restated for discontinued operations
Note: Technical guidance is included on page 15 of this
announcement
Enquiries
Investors & Analysts
Ruban Chandran Severn Trent Plc +44 (0) 795 716 6615
Head of Investor Relations
Richard Tunnicliffe Severn Trent Plc +44 (0) 783 441 9722
Investor Relations Manager
Media
Jonathan Sibun Tulchan Communications +44 (0) 207 353 4200
Press Office Severn Trent Plc +44 (0) 247 771 5640
Interim Results Presentation and Webcast
There will be a presentation of these results at 9:30am GMT on
Thursday 23 November 2017 at the Rothschild Sky Pavilion, New
Court, St Swithin's Lane, London EC4N 8AL. This presentation will
be available as a simultaneous webcast on the Severn Trent website
(www.severntrent.com) and will remain on the website for subsequent
viewing.
Chief Executive's Review
As we complete the first half of this regulatory period, it's
appropriate to reflect on the hard work of my colleagues, our
performance, and the journey ahead. We have further evolved the
culture of our organisation and the changes we've made are now
embedded throughout Severn Trent. We have focused on enhancing the
service offered to customers, who have helped determine our
operational priorities through customer Outcome Delivery Incentives
(ODIs). Customer service improvements have been delivered whilst
we've maintained the lowest average combined bills in Britain.
Our aim is to be an upper quartile company when compared to our
peers and we are pushing ourselves to continue delivering the very
best service for our customers and set ourselves up to be a winner
in the world of increasing incentivisation expected for AMP7. We
have already made great strides in this ambition but there is still
more to do to ensure all our customers receive a consistent,
high-quality experience.
Through the hard work of everyone at Severn Trent we've made
real progress on the areas our customers have told us are most
important to them, such as reducing sewer floodings by 48%, and
we're seeing that reflected in our strong performance on customer
ODIs, the most important measures as set by our customers.
What is also increasingly clear in today's society is that
businesses, including the water sector, are under increasing
scrutiny and greater pressure to explain their contribution to
society beyond financial profit. We all have to show that we are
sincere about putting our customers at the heart of our business.
We need to make sure the decisions we take strike the right balance
between all of our stakeholders and show we run our business in a
sustainable and responsible way.
At Severn Trent we are committed to supporting the communities
that we serve. We are proud of all the great work that has been
done over many years. For us, doing the right thing means low
bills, investing in better services, protecting the environment,
creating employment, and helping with housing constraints through
our new property strategy. The water sector has been transformed
and will continue to be in the coming years, driven by consultation
with customers and the regulatory framework set by our
regulator.
By regularly engaging with our stakeholders we stay connected to
their needs and adapt accordingly. We know that developing the
right plan for PR19 will help to meet, and hopefully exceed, their
expectations. Our economic regulator, Ofwat, has already previewed
the methodology for AMP7, and while it should be seen as a package
of overall measures, we're very aware that it will be a tough
regulatory review. That said, our customer focus and the progress
we have made so far this AMP means we believe we are relatively
well positioned to benefit from the proposed changes.
Severn Trent continues to execute its strategy with success. Our
ambition is to be the most trusted water and sewerage company by
2020. Our five priority areas are:
- Embedding customers at the heart of all we do
- Driving operational excellence and continued innovation
- Investing responsibly for sustainable growth
- Changing the market for the better
- Creating an awesome place to work
Embedding customers at the heart of all we do
Ofwat has recently reinforced the message that customers must be
at the heart of AMP7 business plans.
Our momentum in this area has been recognised in the UK Customer
Service Index (CSI), the key measure of customer satisfaction in
the UK, where we were recently ranked 5(th) of 25 utility
companies, and came top of the listed water companies. UK CSI is
specifically included in Ofwat's PR19 draft methodology
consultation, with higher rewards available if a company performs
at or above a certain threshold.
We are proud once again that Severn Trent has the lowest average
combined water and sewerage bills in Britain, at GBP341 per annum.
Affordability is a high priority for us and we are now helping more
than 50,000 vulnerable customers struggling to pay their bills. We
have launched a new customer assistance scheme called 'Matching
Plus' which helps customers manage their debts by rewarding them
for regular payments. These actions have helped our bad debt
performance this half-year, and we were the top performing water
and sewerage company on this measure in both 2015/16 and
2016/17.
We have announced plans to sell surplus land over the next 10
years. This will help keep bills low, as a proportion of profits
will be shared with customers through an end of AMP Regulatory
Capital Value (RCV) adjustment. These plans will benefit our
communities, help to address the housing shortage and create new
jobs.
We are constantly looking for ways to improve our customer
experience. Our next aim is to combine our contact centre staff
with our network distribution and planning teams, creating a more
seamless and integrated approach to our customer offer.
We recognise we are only part way through our journey to sector
leadership. We came 10(th) out of 17 water companies overall in
2016/17 on the Service Inventive Mechanism (SIM), a measure of
customer experience, and we know we can improve. However, we are
pleased that Dee Valley, which is now part of Severn Trent, came
4(th) overall in SIM and we are looking to apply their strengths to
the wider business.
Driving operational excellence and continuous innovation
We have created a solid track record in the areas that matter
most for our customers. This has resulted in us earning GBP71
million (pre-tax at 2012/13 prices) outperformance payments on our
customer ODIs in the first two years of AMP6.
Early investments are now paying off; we have made a strong
start to 2017/18 with a positive trajectory and this high
performance is now ingrained within our organisation. Our rate of
improvement means we are now increasing FY 2017/18 guidance to at
least GBP50 million, and we now expect to hit the Waste cap for
AMP6.
Highlights in the first half of 2017/18 include reducing the
number of internal and external sewer flooding incidents by 38% and
50% respectively. In Water, we're encouraged by a 12% improvement
in water quality complaints.
We recognise that our performance has a financial impact on our
customers, so in light of expected higher inflation next year,
we've asked Ofwat to allow us to defer GBP27 million of the GBP38
million customer ODIs we earned in 2016/17 (post tax, at 2012/13
prices, or GBP47.6 million pre-tax) into later years. That means we
can limit the customer ODI component in next year's bills to less
than a penny a day, helping keep our bills as low as possible.
We know that there are areas where our performance needs to
further improve, for example on water quality, and we are working
hard to meet our challenging targets in these as well.
Investing responsibly for sustainable growth
Ofwat expects companies to deliver efficiency improvements as we
enter the next price review. In AMP6 we have shown we can meet
these challenges, with GBP770 million of efficiencies forecast for
the period to 2020. We have now locked in 86% of the total,
including an additional GBP50 million identified in the first half
of 2017/18. We are well underway with the reinvestment of GBP120
million for the benefit of our customers in water quality, security
and vulnerable customers.
When we entered this AMP our performance across the price
controls was mixed. Waste was our strongest area and we started the
AMP in the upper quartile. Based on our cumulative performance to
the end of 2016/17 we are confident our progress keeps us
there.
Water was the area where we knew we needed to focus. We were
mid-table and we knew we could do better. The signs so far are
encouraging and we believe our progress is moving us towards upper
quartile, however there is more to do.
In Retail we started mid-table and our analysis suggests we are
now upper quartile on costs. This has been helped significantly by
our bad debt performance. We are now one of the top performers in
the sector thanks to the strong, innovative approach of our credit
management teams.
We are encouraged by our progress in the first two years of
AMP6, and while we still have improvements to make, we intend to
achieve upper quartile across all price controls by 2020. This will
stand us in good stead for the journey to AMP7.
Our Birmingham Resilience scheme is progressing well. We have
finished tunnelling at two of the sites required along the Elan
Valley Aqueduct and will start work on the final tunnel at Knighton
next year. The design work for the new abstraction point on the
River Severn and formal consultation with our customers is
complete. Our second largest capital scheme in Newark is also
progressing well, with work to renew the water mains now
finished.
We have now spent GBP116 million of the GBP190 million planned
investment in renewable energy. We are generating the equivalent of
38% of our energy needs and remain on-track to deliver 50% by 2020.
Our new food waste plant at Roundhill has opened for business, and
our wind turbines in Derby and hydro additions at Howden and
Clywedog are now in full-time operation.
Our plan is to make our entire fleet environmentally friendly
and we have pledged to replace 2,200 vans, cars and tankers with
alternative fuel vehicles, as and when appropriate vehicles come on
the market.
In our Business Services division, we have streamlined our
portfolio by selling our US Operating Services business in June,
allowing us to focus on core strategic growth areas.
Changing the market for the better
Water services in England and Wales have been transformed over
the last 25 years since privatisation. Investment has increased
significantly in the sector to make services more reliable,
efficient, and improve the environment. Ofwat's PR19 draft
methodology consultation will encourage us to take the water sector
to the next level of performance.
The PR19 methodology has set expectations of the returns we can
expect from the next regulatory period and it is clear that this is
going to be a challenging price review. However, we believe the
focus should be on the package of measures as a whole, rather than
just one element, such as the base return. There will be
opportunities for well-run companies to improve returns through
enhancements to incentives such as totex and customer ODIs. We
agree with this approach, companies should not be rewarded for
providing sub-standard service to customers, and we intend to be
winners in this environment.
We have published our response to the draft methodology
consultation and are generally supportive of Ofwat's proposals. The
strengthening of incentives is a clear positive and the creation of
competitive markets in water resources and bioresources will create
opportunities for us. Overall we believe the methodology is tough
and challenging, but the right direction for customers.
Our preparations for PR19 are well progressed. We are working
with customers in collaboration with The Water Forum (our customer
consultation panel) on plans to gain vital customer insight and
provide assistance to vulnerable customers. We will stretch
ourselves further on customer ODIs. For example we have bold
ambitions to reduce leakage by 15% over the course of AMP7. We have
been supporters of Ofwat's recent moves and we intend to embrace
competition in the bioresources market with a dedicated team.
Our catchment management programme is reducing the level of
pollution getting into raw water sources, and we are engaging with
more than 1,500 farms in our region. In the first half of the year
we also launched a scheme to help developers build more water
efficient homes, offering discounts on connection charges if
certain criteria are met.
Integration of Dee Valley is progressing well and in parallel
with our preparation for the proposed licence changes due to take
place in April 2018. We are sharing best practice between Dee
Valley and Severn Trent which is to the benefit of customers. For
example Dee Valley's approach to mains cleaning has been yielding
strong results and we're are now taking these learnings and
applying them across the broader Seven Trent business.
Creating an awesome place to work
Our people drive the change needed to meet the challenges faced
by our sector and help create a lasting water legacy. We place
great importance on their motivation and wellbeing.
The majority of Severn Trent employees are also our customers
and we believe in empowering and learning from them so we can
deliver better service for all of our customers. Our all-employee
roadshows captured their thoughts on key topics such as water
efficiency and reducing leakage.
We are proud to have been named in the first-ever Social
Mobility Employer Index, the only water company to be included.
This is a joint initiative between the Social Mobility Foundation
and the Social Mobility Commission, recognising the efforts
companies are making to ensure everyone has the opportunity to find
a job and be promoted, regardless of their background. We also
participate in the employability scheme which gives internships and
work opportunities to people with special educational needs.
We have created a new volunteering programme called Community
Champions, helping us all get more involved in our local
communities. Around 40% of our employees have signed up so far and
we have committed to help clean up 50km of our region's
riverbanks.
Along with other leading companies, we have recently published
our gender pay gap performance and it is encouraging to see that
Severn Trent's mean gap is just 2.4%, well below the national and
industry average.
We have been working in partnership with Hope for Justice in
helping to eradicate modern slavery. We have also delivered a range
of sessions on specific areas of concern to our people, such as the
menopause, and trained over 330 employees as mental health first
aiders.
As part of our ongoing push to make customer service even
better, we recently announced a recruitment drive for 250 people
for our asset creation and repair and maintenance teams.
We have seen encouraging trends in the diversity of our teams
with more colleagues from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME)
backgrounds and greater gender diversity. We've seen an increase
from 4% of BAME graduates in the total graduate population three
years ago to 34% today. In our apprentice group we've seen an
increase in females from nil three years ago to 15% today.
Chief Financial Officer's Review
We have delivered good financial performance in the first six
months of 2017/18. Our Regulated Water and Waste Water business has
shown good control over operating costs, restricting increases to
less than inflation. In Business Services we have seen strong
growth in revenues and underlying PBIT in both Operating Services
and Renewable Energy.
Our strategy of increasing exposure to low floating interest
rates helped reduce our effective cash cost of interest, however
our overall reported net interest costs increased due to the impact
of higher inflation on the 26% of our debt that is
index-linked.
Our tax charge was in line with the statutory rate of 19%
although the benefit of capital allowances and amounts recoverable
in relation to previous overpayments reduced the cash tax
payable.
Underlying earnings per share was up 7.7% to 65.9 pence
(2016/17: 61.2 pence). Basic earnings per share from continuing
operations was 62.6 pence (2016/17: 78.4 pence).
In May, we upgraded our dividend policy to increase by RPI plus
at least 4% per annum. As a result the proposed interim dividend
has increased by 6.2%.
On 30 June we completed the disposal of our US Operating
Services business, realising a gain of GBP16.1 million and we sold
our Italian Operating Services business in the previous year. These
have both been reported as discontinued operations and the previous
year's figures have been restated to reflect this. Details of the
restatement were set out in a separate announcement on 19 July
2017.
A brief overview of our financial performance for the six month
period is as follows:
-- Group turnover from continuing operations was GBP850.4
million (2016/17: GBP820.0 million), an increase of 3.7%, mainly
due to allowed price increases in our Severn Trent Regulated Water
and Waste Water business, the acquisition of Dee Valley and growth
in both of our Business Services businesses.
-- Underlying PBIT increased by 4.4% to GBP287.8 million
(2016/17: GBP275.7 million) benefiting from six months of Dee
Valley, good operating cost control and lower infrastructure spend,
offset by higher depreciation on the growing asset base.
-- There were exceptional gains of GBP8.3 million arising from a
further pension increase exchange arrangement that has been agreed
with the Trustees of the Severn Trent Pension Scheme (2016/17 gain
of GBP21.0 million).
-- Reported group PBIT was GBP296.1 million (2016/17: GBP296.7 million).
-- Whilst net finance costs were GBP110.5 million (2016/17:
GBP98.5 million) reflecting the impact of higher RPI, the effective
cash cost of interest was around 20 basis points lower compared to
the same period last year.
-- The current tax charge of GBP21.7 million (2016/17: GBP29.8
million) benefitted from the reduction in the corporation tax rate
from 20% to 19% and from capital allowances on our increased
investment programme. The deferred tax charge before exceptional
tax was GBP12.8 million (2016/17: GBP6.7 million). The total tax
charge was therefore GBP34.5 million (2016/17: credit of GBP3.3
million after an exceptional deferred tax credit of GBP39.8 million
due to the reduction in corporation tax rate to 17% in 2020).
-- Net capital expenditure (cash) was GBP270.4 million (2016/17
GBP234.8 million). We expect further increases in the second half
of the year and through the rest of the AMP.
Regulated Water and Waste Water
Turnover for the Regulated Water and Waste Water segment was
GBP789.9 million (2016/17: GBP765.2 million) and underlying PBIT
was GBP278.3 million (2016/17: GBP268.9 million).
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016 Better/(worse)
----------------------------------- -------- -----------------
Total Dee Valley Excluding
Dee Valley
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm %
Turnover 789.9 (12.5) 777.4 765.2 12.2 1.6
-------------------------- -------- ----------- ------------ -------- ------- --------
Net labour costs (71.4) 2.0 (69.4) (66.8) (2.6) (3.9)
Net hired and contracted
costs (69.8) 1.1 (68.7) (72.4) 3.7 5.1
Power (45.2) 1.1 (44.1) (39.7) (4.4) (11.1)
Bad debts (10.8) 0.2 (10.6) (10.3) (0.3) (2.9)
Other costs (88.5) 1.0 (87.5) (87.9) 0.4 0.5
(285.7) 5.4 (280.3) (277.1) (3.2) (1.2)
-------------------------- -------- ----------- ------------ -------- ------- --------
Infrastructure renewals
expenditure (64.4) 0.6 (63.8) (66.0) 2.2 3.3
Depreciation (161.5) 2.9 (158.6) (153.2) (5.4) (3.5)
Underlying PBIT 278.3 (3.6) 274.7 268.9 5.8 2.2
-------------------------- -------- ----------- ------------ -------- ------- --------
Dee Valley Water contributed GBP12.5 million to turnover and
GBP3.6 million to underlying PBIT in the period. The following
commentary on the Regulated Water and Waste Water business excludes
Dee Valley Water and is therefore on a like-for-like basis.
Turnover increased by 1.6%. Higher tariffs increased revenue by
GBP17.7 million including the impact of the annual RPI increase on
prices (GBP16.9 million), the benefit of customer ODI
outperformance payments earned in 2015/16 (GBP12.9 million),
partially offset by an adjustment of GBP12.1 million for wholesale
revenue in 2015/16 billed in excess of the Wholesale revenue
allowance. New connections, meter optants, voids management and
other impacts together resulted in a net reduction of GBP5.5
million, leading to the GBP12.2 million reported total
increase.
Net labour costs were GBP2.6 million (3.9%) higher period on
period. A 2% pay award and 4% increase in headcount from insourcing
was partially offset by an increase in the amount capitalised, as
we spent more of our time on our growing capital programme this
year.
Net hired and contracted costs decreased by GBP3.7 million.
Gross costs were GBP2.0 million lower, in part due to one-time
costs related to Open Water in 2016/17 and more insourcing, and
costs capitalised increased as a result of the larger capital
programme.
Power costs were GBP4.4 million higher than the previous year.
We implemented a number of successful initiatives to reduce energy
usage and consumption was down by 2.9 Gwh (around 1%) despite a 2%
increase of water into supply. However, as expected, this was more
than offset by increases in energy pass-through costs. The group
manages its power costs through a combination of self-generation,
forward price contracts and financial derivatives.
Bad debt charges were GBP0.3 million higher and represent 1.8%
of household revenue, consistent with the prior year (2016/17:
1.8%).
Other costs decreased by GBP0.4 million net after including an
increase in release of deferred credits of GBP3.6 million, mainly
arising on assets adopted under the second stage of the Private
Drains and Sewers ("PDAS") programme, which is matched by an
increase in the depreciation charge on these assets.
Infrastructure maintenance expenditure was GBP2.2 million lower
in the period, mainly due to timing differences compared to the
prior year.
Depreciation was GBP5.4 million higher year on year, partly due
to the assets adopted under PDAS, noted above, and increased
capital expenditure on new assets.
Business Services
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016 Increase
(restated)
GBPm GBPm GBPm %
-------------------- ----- ----------- ----- -----
Turnover
Operating Services 40.5 37.6 2.9 7.7
Renewable Energy 29.7 26.6 3.1 11.7
70.2 64.2 6.0 9.3
-------------------- ----- ----------- ----- -----
Underlying PBIT
Operating Services 7.4 6.0 1.4 23.3
Renewable Energy 9.0 7.4 1.6 21.6
16.4 13.4 3.0 22.4
-------------------- ----- ----------- ----- -----
In our Operating Services business turnover increased by GBP2.9
million mainly due to additional work on existing contracts.
Underlying PBIT increased by GBP1.4 million from the margin on the
additional work and higher income from contracts with plumbing and
drainage insurers.
Renewable Energy turnover increased by GBP3.1 million and
underlying PBIT increased by GBP1.6 million, driven by strong
performance in our bioresources business.
The results above exclude the US Operating Services business,
which was sold on 30 June 2017. The Italian Operating Services
business was sold on 23 February 2017 and the non-household Retail
business was transferred to the Water Plus joint venture during the
prior year. All of these businesses have been classified as
discontinued operations in the current and previous periods and the
results for the previous period have been restated to reflect
this.
There were no significant property disposals in the period,
however, we have identified opportunities to generate profits of
around GBP100 million over the next 10 years from the development
of surplus property assets. A proportion of these profits will be
shared with customers through lower bills. We have strengthened our
Property team to take advantage of these opportunities and will
report these operations as part of underlying Business Services
PBIT in future periods.
Corporate and Other
Corporate overheads were GBP6.1 million (2016/17: GBP6.9
million). There was also an exchange loss of GBP0.3 million
(2016/17 gain of GBP2.1 million).
Exceptional items before tax
An exceptional gain of GBP8.3 million (2016/17: GBP21.0 million)
arose from the expected benefit of a pension increase exchange
arrangement under which members of our defined benefit schemes will
be offered the opportunity at retirement to exchange future
non-statutory inflationary increases in a portion of their pensions
earned prior to 1997 for a higher pension payment.
Net finance costs
The group's net finance costs for the six month period were
GBP110.5 million, GBP12.0 million higher than the prior period
(GBP98.5 million). The effective cash cost of interest (excluding
the RPI uplift on index linked debt) was 3.6% (2016/17: 3.8%)
reflecting the benefit of our strategy to increase the proportion
of debt at currently low floating rates. However, the interest cost
on RPI debt increased by GBP11.4 million, largely as a result of
higher inflation, so the effective interest rate, including index
linked debt, for the period was 4.5% (2016/17: 4.2%). Net pension
finance costs were GBP2.0 million higher than the previous year as
the increase in the opening net deficit exceeded the benefit from
the lower opening discount rate.
Interest capitalised was GBP2.9 million higher than the prior
year due to the increased level of capital work in progress.
The group's EBITDA interest cover was 4.4 times (2016/17: 4.6
times) and PBIT interest cover was 2.8 times (2016/17: 3.0 times).
See note 17 for further details.
Gains/losses on financial instruments
The group uses financial derivatives solely to hedge risks
associated with its normal business activities including:
-- Exchange rate exposure on borrowings denominated in foreign currencies;
-- Interest rate exposures; and
-- Exposures to increases in electricity prices.
During the period a counterparty asked to terminate four of our
interest rate swaps with a notional principal of GBP150 million.
The fair value of the swaps at termination was a GBP42.6 million
liability and the termination payment was GBP40.0 million. The gain
on termination has been included in finance income.
The group holds interest rate swaps with a net notional
principal of GBP503.2 million, which execute the group's strategy
to increase exposure to currently low interest rates; cross
currency swaps with a sterling principal of GBP98.4 million, which
economically act to hedge exchange rate risk on certain foreign
currency borrowings; and an inflation swap with a notional
principal of GBP50 million, which swaps RPI linked cash flows for
CPI linked cash flows. These swaps do not meet the hedge accounting
rules of IAS 39 and therefore the changes in fair value are taken
to gains/(losses) on financial instruments in the income statement.
During the period there was a charge of GBP9.2 million (2016/17:
charge of GBP6.8 million) in relation to these instruments.
An analysis of the amounts charged to the income statement in
the period is presented in note 4 to the financial statements.
The group has fixed around 90% of the estimated wholesale energy
usage for 2017/18 through a combination of forward price contracts
and financial derivatives.
Taxation
The tax charge reported in the income statement is calculated at
a rate of 18.9% (2016/17: 20.0% based on restated profit before
tax), representing the best estimate of the annual average tax rate
expected for the full year applied to the profit for the six month
period.
The current tax charge for the period was GBP21.7 million
(2016/17: GBP29.8 million) and the deferred tax charge before
exceptional tax was GBP12.8 million (2016/17: GBP6.7 million).
There was an exceptional deferred tax credit in 2016/17 of
GBP39.8 million arising from the enactment of the reduction in
corporation tax rate to 17% from 2020.
The reduction in the headline corporation tax rate to 19% and
the benefit of the capital allowances from our increased capital
programme reduced our underlying effective current tax rate (in
line with guidance) to 13.1% (2016/17: 17.9%).
Profit for the period and earnings per share
Reported profit for the period from continuing operations was
GBP147.5 million (2016/17: GBP185.2 million). The reduction was
largely due to the exceptional deferred tax credit in the previous
year.
The profit for the period from discontinued operations was
GBP17.5 million (2016/17: GBP25.2 million).
Total reported profit for the period including discontinued
operations was GBP165.0 million (2016/17: GBP210.4 million).
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations decreased by
20.2% to 62.6 pence (2016/17: 78.4 pence). Underlying basic
earnings per share were 65.9 pence (2016/17: 61.2 pence). For
further details see note 8.
Cash flow
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
GBPm GBPm
Net cash generated from operations 480.2 516.6
Net capital expenditure (270.4) (234.8)
Net interest paid (64.9) (63.9)
Investment in joint ventures and associates -- (55.7)
Proceeds on disposal of subsidiaries net of cash
disposed and disposal costs 26.9 (4.9)
Proceeds on maturity of forward contracts -- 4.3
Swap termination payment (40.0) --
Free cash flow 131.8 161.6
Dividends (115.2) (114.0)
Issue of shares 5.1 4.9
Purchase of own shares (0.5) --
Change in net debt from cash flows 21.2 52.5
Non-cash movements (27.0) 29.6
---------------------------------------------------
Change in net debt (5.8) 82.1
Opening net debt (5,082.4) (4,823.4)
--------------------------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Closing net debt (5,088.2) (4,741.3)
--------------------------------------------------- ---------- ----------
Cash generated from operations was down 9.7% compared to the
same period in the previous year, which benefitted from the change
in payment terms for non-household debtors following the transfer
of this business to Water Plus. The performance in the current year
is more in line with historical trends.
Net debt comprises:
30 September 31 March 30 September
2017 2017 2016
GBPm GBPm GBPm
---------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------- -------------
Cash and cash equivalents 151.3 44.6 38.9
Bank loans (926.2) (1,073.3) (1,178.8)
Other loans (4,353.5) (4,090.0) (3,582.2)
Finances leases (115.4) (115.7) (117.2)
Cross currency swaps 34.4 43.4 52.3
Loans due from joint ventures and associated
undertakings 121.2 108.6 45.7
Net debt (5,088.2) (5,082.4) (4,741.3)
---------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------- -------------
At 30 September 2017 we held GBP151.3 million (31 March 2017:
GBP44.6 million) in cash and cash equivalents. Average debt
maturity is 14.5 years. Including committed facilities, the group's
cash flow requirements are funded until July 2019.
We invest cash in deposits with highly rated banks and liquidity
funds and the list of counterparties is regularly reviewed and
reported to the Board.
Net debt at 30 September 2017 was GBP5,088.2 million (31 March
2017: GBP5,082.4 million). Balance sheet gearing (net debt/net debt
plus equity) at the half year was 84.0% (31 March 2017: 84.6%). Net
debt, expressed as a percentage of estimated Regulatory Capital
Value at 30 September 2017 was 59.2% (31 March 2017: 61.6%).
Gearing tends to be lower at the half year than the year end
because the billing pattern in our regulated business results in
cash flow being weighted to the first half of the financial
year.
The estimated fair value of debt at 30 September 2017 was
GBP1,227 million higher than book value (31 March 2017: GBP1,444
million higher). The decrease in the difference to book value is
largely due to the increase in the discount rates applied, driven
by market expectations of higher interest rates.
Pensions
We have three defined benefit pensions arrangements, two from
Severn Trent and one from Dee Valley Water. The Severn Trent
schemes closed to future accrual on 31 March 2015.
Formal three-yearly actuarial valuations have been completed as
at 31 March 2016 for the Severn Trent schemes and we have agreed
the future funding plan for these schemes with the Trustee. The
agreement reached with the Trustee for the Severn Trent Pension
Scheme ('STPS'), which is by far the largest of the schemes
includes:
-- Inflation-linked payments of GBP15 million per annum through
a new asset backed funding arrangement potentially continuing to 31
March 2031, although these contributions will cease earlier, should
a subsequent valuation of the STPS show that these contributions
are no longer needed.
-- Further payments of GBP10 million for the two financial years ending 31 March 2019.
-- Continued payments under the existing asset backed funding
arrangement, which provides GBP8.2 million per annum to 31 March
2032.
-- In addition to these payments the company will directly pay
the annual Pension Protection Fund levy incurred by the STPS.
During the period, as agreed with the company, the Trustees of
the STPS have entered into additional hedging arrangements to
reduce the impact of fluctuations in interest rates and inflation
on the Scheme's liabilities, without adversely impacting the
expected return on the Scheme's assets.
On an IAS 19 basis, the estimated net position (before deferred
tax) of all of the group's defined benefit pension schemes was a
deficit of GBP567.3 million as at 30 September 2017. This compares
to a deficit of GBP574.6 million as at 31 March 2017.
The movements in the net deficit during the period were:
Fair
value Defined
of plan benefit
assets obligations Net deficit
GBPm GBPm GBPm
------------------------------------------------ --------- ------------- ------------
At start of the period 2,352.8 (2,927.4) (574.6)
Amounts credited/(charged) to income statement 29.2 (29.8) (0.6)
Actuarial (losses)/gains taken to reserves (52.0) 59.2 7.2
Net contributions received and benefits paid (48.5) 49.2 0.7
At end of the period 2,281.5 (2,848.8) (567.3)
------------------------------------------------ --------- ------------- ------------
On an IAS 19 basis, the funding level has decreased marginally
to 80.1% (31 March 2017: 80.4%).
Exchange rates
The trading results of overseas subsidiaries are translated to
sterling at the average rate of exchange ruling during the period
and their net assets are translated at the closing rate on the
balance sheet date. The impact of changing exchange rates on the
subsidiaries' trading results was immaterial.
Dividends
The Board has declared an interim ordinary dividend of 34.63p
per share (2016/17: 32.60p per share), which will be paid on 5
January 2018 to shareholders on the register at 1 December
2017.
Principal risks and uncertainties
The Board considers the principal risks and uncertainties
affecting the business activities of the group for the remainder of
the financial year to be those detailed below:
Customer perception
-- We may be unable to improve or maintain our levels of
customer service sufficiently to deliver what our customers tell us
they want.
Legal
-- There is a risk that processes may fail or that our processes
may not effectively keep pace with changes in legislation, leading
to the risk of non-compliance.
Operations, assets and people
-- We may experience loss of data or interruptions to our key
business systems as a result of cyber threats.
-- We may fail to meet our regulatory targets including targets
from Ofwat in relation to operational performance of our assets
resulting in regulatory penalties.
-- Failure of certain key assets or processes may mean we are
unable to provide a continuous supply of clean water and safely
take waste water away within our area.
-- Due to the nature of our operations we could endanger the
health and safety of our people, contractors and members of the
public, as well as negatively impact our local and wider
environment.
-- We are unable to deal with the impact of extreme and
unpredictable weather events on our assets and infrastructure
and/or are unable to successfully plan for future water resource
supply and demand due to climate change.
Risks of a longer-term nature that are unlikely to have a
significant impact on the remainder of the financial year
include:
Political and regulatory environment
-- PR19: The regulatory landscape is complex and subject to
ongoing evolution. Ofwat has published its draft methodology
statement, providing some insight into the changes that PR19 will
bring, however we will not know the full extent of these changes
until we receive our Final Determination in December 2019.
-- The UK's decision to leave the European Union (EU): Severn
Trent is less affected than many companies from the decision to
leave the European Union - we operate almost entirely in the UK and
our supplier base and customers are predominantly domestic. Further
detail is set out in the group's Annual Report for the year ended
31 March 2017.
-- Renationalisation: The most recent Labour Party manifesto
included an intention to analyse a range of options to improve
utilities, including renationalisation. We are engaging with a wide
range of policy makers about the benefits that the privatised water
sector is delivering and the financial and practical costs of
renationalisation.
Technical Guidance for the full year 2017/18
Regulated Water and Waste Water(1)
Revenues are expected to be in the range of GBP1.57 billion to
GBP1.60 billion (2016/17: GBP1.53 billion).
We expect operating costs to be higher year on year (2016/17:
GBP581 million) due to the inclusion of Dee Valley's costs and
upward pressure from two sector-wide changes in business rates and
energy pass-through costs. In addition, we expect to incur GBP135
million to GBP155 million of net infrastructure renewals
expenditure (2016/17: GBP136 million), which will be charged to the
income statement.
On customer ODIs, we expect to earn net outperformance payment
of at least GBP50 million(2) (2016/17: GBP48 million).
Wholesale Totex is expected to be GBP1.20 billion to GBP1.30
billion (2016/17: GBP1.06 billion), of which 42.1% will be
capitalised onto the RCV.
Business Services
We expect to deliver growth in revenues and PBIT year on year
(2016/17 (restated(3) ): GBP128 million and GBP32 million
respectively).
Group
The group interest charge is expected to be higher year on year
(2016/17 (restated(3) ): GBP205 million), based on higher forecast
RPI (c. 2%) increasing the interest charge on our index-linked debt
and a full year of Dee Valley.
The underlying effective current tax rate for the group for
2017/18 is expected to be between 12% and 14% (2016/17: 16.6%). The
reduction is due to the fall in the corporation tax rate from 20%
to 19% and an increase in capital allowances resulting from the
increasing capital programme.
We estimate the group's net capital expenditure (cash) under
IFRS will be GBP620 million to GBP700 million (2016/17: GBP501
million).
In line with our announced policy, the dividend for 2017/18 will
be 86.55p(4) (2016/17: 81.50p) and will grow by at least 4% above
RPI annually over the remainder of AMP6.
Longer term
Following the announcement of our property strategy, we expect
to deliver c. GBP100 million of group PBIT from property sales over
the next 10 years, at between GBP5 million to GBP15 million each
year.
Due to our strong performance in the first two and a half years,
we now expect to hit the Waste cap of 2% of regulated equity in
AMP6(5) .
1. Regulated Water and Waste Water includes a full year of Dee Valley Water in 2017/18
2. Customer Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODIs), quoted pre-tax at 2012/13 prices
3. Restated to reflect sale of Operating Services activities in
the USA and Italy, which have been reclassified as discontinued
operations, as detailed in the RNS announcement dated 19 July 2017
- "Trading update for the period 1 April to 19 July 2017"
4. 2017/18 dividend growth is based on November 2016 RPI of 2.2% plus 4%
5. For AMP6, our customer ODI outperformance payments for Waste
are capped at GBP190 million (pre-tax at 2012/13 prices). To the
end of 2016/17 we had earned GBP75 million from our Waste customer
ODIs, leaving GBP115 million remaining
Severn Trent Plc will announce its Q3 trading update on 7
February 2018.
Further Information
For further information, including the group's interim results
presentation, see the Severn Trent website
(www.severntrent.com).
Investor Timetable
30 November 2017 Ex-dividend date (Interim)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
1 December 2017 Dividend record date (Interim)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
12 December 2017 DRIP election date (Interim)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
5 January 2018 Interim dividend payment date
------------------- ---------------------------------------
7 February 2018 Q3 Trading Update
------------------- ---------------------------------------
31 March 2018 Financial Year End
------------------- ---------------------------------------
23 May 2018 Full Year Results Announcement 2017/18
------------------- ---------------------------------------
14 June 2018 Ex-dividend date (Final)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
15 June 2018 Dividend record date (Final)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
29 June 2018 DRIP election date (Final)
------------------- ---------------------------------------
18 July 2018 AGM
------------------- ---------------------------------------
20 July 2018 Final dividend payment date
------------------- ---------------------------------------
For more information please visit:
https://www.severntrent.com/investors/financial-calendar
------------------------------------------------------------
Condensed consolidated income statement
Six months ended 30 September 2017
2017 2016
(restated)
Note GBPm GBPm
Turnover 2 850.4 820.0
Operating costs before exceptional items (562.6) (544.3)
Exceptional items 3 8.3 21.0
Total operating costs (554.3) (523.3)
-------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- -----------
Profit before interest, tax and exceptional items 2 287.8 275.7
Exceptional items 3 8.3 21.0
Profit before interest and tax 296.1 296.7
-------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- -----------
Finance income 34.0 36.4
Finance costs (144.5) (134.9)
Net finance costs (110.5) (98.5)
Net losses on financial instruments 4 (5.0) (15.4)
Share of net profit/(loss) of joint ventures accounted
for using the equity method 1.4 (0.9)
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 182.0 181.9
Current tax 5 (21.7) (29.8)
Deferred tax 5 (12.8) (6.7)
Exceptional tax 5 -- 39.8
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities 5 (34.5) 3.3
Profit for the period from continuing operations 147.5 185.2
Profit for the period from discontinued operations 6 17.5 25.2
Profit for the period attributable to owners of
the company 165.0 210.4
-------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- -----------
Earnings per share
2017 2016
(restated)
pence pence
--------------------------------------------- ------- -----------
From continuing operations
Basic 62.6 78.4
Diluted 62.3 78.2
From continuing and discontinued operations
Basic 70.0 89.1
Diluted 69.7 88.8
---------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
2017 2016
GBPm GBPm
Profit for the period 165.0 210.4
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Other comprehensive loss
Items that will not be reclassified to the income
statement:
Net actuarial gain/(loss) 7.2 (415.7)
Tax on net actuarial gain/loss (1.2) 70.7
Deferred tax arising on change of rate -- (2.9)
6.0 (347.9)
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Items that may be reclassified to the income statement:
Gains/(losses) on cash flow hedges 8.3 (25.2)
Deferred tax on gains/losses on cash flow hedges (1.4) 4.3
Amounts on cash flow hedges transferred to the income
statement 4.1 3.2
Deferred tax on transfer to the income statement (0.7) (0.5)
Exchange movement on translation of overseas results
and net assets (1.8) 5.4
Cumulative exchange gains taken to the income statement (29.8) --
(21.3) (12.8)
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive
income
Six months ended 30 September 2017
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Other comprehensive loss for the period (15.3) (360.7)
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period attributable
to owners of the company 149.7 (150.3)
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------- --------
Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity
Six months ended 30 September 2017
Equity attributable to owners of
the company
------------------------------------------------------
Share Share Other Retained Non-controlling Total
capital premium reserves earnings Total interests equity
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
As at 1 April 2016 234.3 106.8 116.5 559.8 1,017.4 1.1 1,018.5
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
Profit for the period -- -- -- 210.4 210.4 -- 210.4
Losses on cash flow
hedges -- -- (25.2) -- (25.2) -- (25.2)
Deferred tax on losses
on cash flow hedges -- -- 4.3 -- 4.3 -- 4.3
Amounts on cash flow
hedges transferred
to the income statement -- -- 3.2 -- 3.2 -- 3.2
Deferred tax on transfer
to the income statement -- -- (0.5) -- (0.5) -- (0.5)
Exchange movement
on translation of
overseas results and
net assets -- -- 5.4 -- 5.4 -- 5.4
Net actuarial losses -- -- -- (415.7) (415.7) -- (415.7)
Tax on net actuarial
losses -- -- -- 70.7 70.7 -- 70.7
Deferred tax arising
from rate change -- -- -- (2.9) (2.9) -- (2.9)
Transfer net of deferred
tax -- -- 7.0 (7.0) -- -- --
Total comprehensive
loss for the period -- -- (5.8) (144.5) (150.3) -- (150.3)
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
Share options and
LTIPs
- proceeds from shares
issued 0.4 4.5 -- -- 4.9 -- 4.9
- value of employees'
services -- -- -- 2.8 2.8 -- 2.8
Current tax on share
based payments -- -- -- 0.7 0.7 -- 0.7
Deferred tax on share
based payments -- -- -- 0.4 0.4 -- 0.4
Dividends paid -- -- -- (114.0) (114.0) -- (114.0)
As at 30 September
2016 234.7 111.3 110.7 305.2 761.9 1.1 763.0
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
As at 1 April 2017 234.7 112.5 121.8 454.3 923.3 -- 923.3
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
Profit for the period -- -- -- 165.0 165.0 -- 165.0
Gains on cash flow
hedges -- -- 8.3 -- 8.3 -- 8.3
Deferred tax on gains
on cash flow hedges -- -- (1.4) -- (1.4) -- (1.4)
Amounts on cash flow
hedges transferred
to the income statement -- -- 4.1 -- 4.1 -- 4.1
Deferred tax on transfer
to the income statement -- -- (0.7) -- (0.7) -- (0.7)
Exchange movement
on translation of
overseas results and
net assets -- -- (1.8) -- (1.8) -- (1.8)
Cumulative exchange
gains transferred
to income statement -- -- (29.8) -- (29.8) -- (29.8)
Net actuarial gains -- -- -- 7.2 7.2 -- 7.2
Tax on net actuarial
gains -- -- -- (1.2) (1.2) -- (1.2)
Transfer between reserves -- -- (8.8) 8.8 -- -- --
Total comprehensive
income for the period -- -- (30.1) 179.8 149.7 -- 149.7
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
Share options and
LTIPs
- proceeds from shares
issued 0.4 4.7 -- -- 5.1 -- 5.1
- value of employees'
services -- -- -- 3.5 3.5 -- 3.5
- own shares purchased -- -- -- (0.5) (0.5) -- (0.5)
Current tax on share
based payments -- -- -- 0.9 0.9 -- 0.9
Deferred tax on share
based payments -- -- -- (0.9) (0.9) -- (0.9)
Dividends paid -- -- -- (115.2) (115.2) -- (115.2)
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
As at 30 September
2017 235.1 117.2 91.7 521.9 965.9 -- 965.9
--------------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- -------- ---------------- --------
Condensed consolidated balance sheet
At 30 September 2017
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
Note GBPm GBPm
Non-current assets
Goodwill 66.2 81.0
Other intangible assets 73.6 80.9
Property, plant and equipment 8,272.7 8,116.4
Investments in joint ventures and associates 38.6 37.4
Derivative financial instruments 52.2 67.0
Trade and other receivables 47.3 58.1
Retirement benefit surplus 11 11.8 9.8
8,562.4 8,450.6
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Current assets
Inventory 15.7 16.2
Trade and other receivables 570.8 517.8
Current tax receivable 8.2 7.3
Derivative financial instruments 0.1 --
Cash and cash equivalents 151.3 44.6
746.1 585.9
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Total assets 9,308.5 9,036.5
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Current liabilities
Borrowings 9 (503.8) (559.4)
Derivative financial instruments -- (0.6)
Trade and other payables (572.9) (451.9)
Current tax payable (16.8) --
Provisions for liabilities and charges (21.2) (17.5)
(1,114.7) (1,029.4)
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings 9 (4,891.3) (4,719.6)
Derivative financial instruments (122.3) (184.1)
Trade and other payables (965.6) (955.7)
Deferred tax (645.5) (623.7)
Retirement benefit obligations 11 (579.1) (584.4)
Provisions for liabilities and charges (24.1) (16.3)
(7,227.9) (7,083.8)
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Total liabilities (8,342.6) (8,113.2)
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Net assets 965.9 923.3
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Equity
Called up share capital 12 235.1 234.7
Share premium account 117.2 112.5
Other reserves 91.7 121.8
Retained earnings 521.9 454.3
Total equity 965.9 923.3
---------------------------------------------- ----- ------------------ ----------------
Condensed consolidated cash flow statement
Six months ended 30 September 2017
2017 2016
Note GBPm GBPm
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Cash generated from operations 13 480.3 532.0
Tax paid (0.1) (15.4)
Net cash generated from operating activities 480.2 516.6
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Cash flows from investing activities
Investments in associates and joint ventures -- (10.0)
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (312.7) (257.7)
Purchases of intangible assets and goodwill (6.1) (8.5)
Contributions and grants received 46.8 30.9
Proceeds on disposal of subsidiaries net of cash
disposed 6 26.9 (4.9)
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment 1.6 0.5
Net loans advanced to joint ventures and associates (12.5) (45.7)
Proceeds on maturity of forward contract -- 4.3
Interest received 2.8 0.8
Net cash from investing activities (253.2) (290.3)
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Cash flow from financing activities
Interest paid (66.6) (64.7)
Interest element of finance lease payments (1.1) --
Dividends paid to shareholders of the parent (115.2) (114.0)
Repayments of borrowings (150.6) (150.8)
New loans raised 249.1 81.2
Issues of shares 5.1 4.9
Swap termination payment (40.0) --
Purchase of own shares (0.5) --
Net cash flow from financing activities (119.8) (243.4)
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Net movement in cash and cash equivalents 107.2 (17.1)
Net cash at the beginning of the period 44.6 55.2
Effect of foreign exchange rates (0.5) 0.8
Net cash and cash equivalents at end of period 151.3 38.9
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Cash and cash equivalents 34.4 17.6
Bank overdrafts -- (4.9)
Short term deposits 116.9 26.2
151.3 38.9
------------------------------------------------------- ----- -------- --------
Notes to the condensed interim financial information
1. General information
The interim report has been prepared in accordance with the
recognition and measurement criteria of IFRS and the disclosure
requirements of the Listing Rules.
The information for the year ended 31 March 2017 does not
constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of
the Companies Act 2006. A copy of the statutory accounts for that
year prepared under IFRS has been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies. The auditor's report on those accounts was unqualified,
did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis and did
not contain statements under section 498 (2) or (3) of the
Companies Act 2006.
Accounting policies
The interim financial information has been prepared on the going
concern basis using accounting policies consistent with
International Financial Reporting Standards and in accordance with
IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" as adopted by the European
Union. The same accounting policies, presentation and methods of
computation are followed in the interim financial information as
applied in the group's annual financial statements for the year
ended 31 March 2017.
Prior period restatement
Prior period figures in the consolidated income statement and
related notes have been restated to present separately amounts
relating to operations classified as discontinued in the current
year. For details see Note 6.
Going concern
Including undrawn committed credit facilities, the group is
fully funded for its investment and cash flow needs until July
2019. After making enquiries the directors have a reasonable
expectation that the group has adequate resources to continue in
operational existence for the foreseeable future and hence the
interim financial information has been prepared on a going concern
basis.
Seasonality
Historically just over half of the group's PBIT has arisen in
the first half of the year.
Acquisition of Dee Valley Group plc
On 15 February 2017, Severn Trent Water Limited acquired 100% of
the issued ordinary share capital of Dee Valley Group plc and all
of its subsidiaries including the regulated water company Dee
Valley Water plc. The fair values included on acquisition for all
assets and liabilities were management's best estimates of the
values as at 15 February 2017 based on all available data at that
time.
As outlined by IFRS 3, management have until the earliest of the
date at which all information required is received or one year from
the acquisition date in order to satisfy the measurement period
criteria. As at 30 September 2017, the fair value adjustment to
goodwill, other intangible assets, property, plant and equipment
and deferred taxation remain provisional.
2. Segmental analysis
The group is organised into two main business segments:
Regulated Water and Waste Water includes the wholesale water and
waste water activities of Severn Trent Water Limited, its retail
services to domestic customers, and Dee Valley Water.
Business Services includes the group's Operating Services
businesses in the UK & Ireland and the group's Renewable Energy
business.
The disposal of the group's Operating Services businesses in
Italy and the USA was completed on 23 February and 30 June 2017
respectively. These businesses have been classified as discontinued
operations. The prior year segmental results have been restated to
present the Italian and US Operating Services businesses as
discontinued operations as set out in the stock market announcement
dated 19 July 2017.
The disposal of the group's non-household retail business to the
newly created Water Plus joint venture with United Utilities was
also classified as a discontinued operation in the prior year. This
transaction was completed on 1 June 2016.
The Severn Trent Executive Committee (STEC) is considered to be
the group's chief operating decision maker. The reports provided to
STEC include segmental information prepared on the basis described
above. Details of Regulated Water and Waste Water's and Business
Services' operations are described in the Annual Report and
Accounts.
Results from interests in joint ventures and associates are not
included in the segmental reports reviewed by STEC.
The measure of profit or loss that is reported to STEC for the
segments is underlying PBIT. A segmental analysis of turnover and
underlying PBIT is presented below.
Transactions between reportable segments are included within
segmental results, assets and liabilities in accordance with group
accounting policies. These are eliminated on consolidation.
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
-------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Regulated Water and Regulated Water and
Waste Water Business Services Waste Water Business Services
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
External turnover 789.5 60.5 764.6 55.4
Inter-segment turnover 0.4 9.7 0.6 8.8
Total turnover 789.9 70.2 765.2 64.2
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
Profit before interest,
tax and exceptional
items 278.3 16.4 268.9 13.4
Exceptional items (see
note 3) 7.9 0.2 19.8 0.6
Profit before interest
and tax 286.2 16.6 288.7 14.0
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
The reportable segments' turnover is reconciled to group
turnover as follows:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
--------------------------------- ------- ---------------------
Regulated Water and Waste Water 789.9 765.2
Business Services 70.2 64.2
Corporate and other 1.3 0.6
Consolidation adjustments (11.0) (10.0)
850.4 820.0
--------------------------------- ------- ---------------------
Segmental underlying PBIT is reconciled to the group's profit
before tax as follows:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
--------------------------------------------------------- -------- -----------
Regulated Water and Waste Water 278.3 268.9
Business Services 16.4 13.4
Corporate and other (6.6) (4.7)
Consolidation adjustments (0.3) (1.9)
Profit before interest, tax and exceptional items 287.8 275.7
Exceptional items:
Regulated Water and Waste Water 7.9 19.8
Business Services 0.2 0.6
Corporate and other 0.2 0.6
Net finance costs (110.5) (98.5)
Net losses on financial instruments (5.0) (15.4)
Share of profit/(loss) of joint ventures and associates 1.4 (0.9)
Profit before tax 182.0 181.9
------------------------------------------------------------ -------- -----------
The following table shows the segmental capital employed:
30 September 2017 31 March 2017
-------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Regulated Water and Regulated Water and
Waste Water Business Services Waste Water Business Services
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
Operating assets 8,680.7 184.6 8,477.1 213.1
Goodwill 67.5 -- 67.3 14.9
Interests in joint
ventures and
associates -- 38.6 -- 37.4
Segment assets 8,748.2 223.2 8,544.4 265.4
Segment operating
liabilities (2,059.9) (32.3) (1,970.9) (55.9)
Capital employed 6,688.3 190.9 6,573.5 209.5
------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
Operating assets comprise other intangible assets, property,
plant and equipment, retirement benefit surpluses, inventory and
trade and other receivables.
Operating liabilities comprise trade and other payables,
retirement benefit obligations and provisions.
The Business Services capital employed at 31 March 2017 included
Operating Services US, which was sold on 30 June 2017.
3. Exceptional items before tax
The group classifies items of income or expenditure as
exceptional if individually or, if of a similar type, in aggregate
they should, in the opinion of the directors, be disclosed by
virtue of their size or nature if the financial statements are to
give a true and fair view. In this context materiality is assessed
at the segment level.
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
GBPm GBPm
Gain arising on pension exchange arrangement
Regulated Water and Waste Water 7.9 19.8
Business Services 0.2 0.6
Corporate and other 0.2 0.6
8.3 21.0
---------------------------------------------- ----- -----
4. Net losses on financial instruments
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
GBPm GBPm
(Loss)/gain on swaps used as hedging instruments in fair value hedges (0.5) 20.5
Gain/(loss) arising on debt in fair value hedges 0.9 (19.7)
Exchange gain/(loss) on other loans 7.6 (7.1)
Loss on cash flow hedges transferred from equity (4.1) (3.2)
Hedge ineffectiveness on cash flow hedges 1.6 0.9
Loss arising on swaps where hedge accounting is not applied (9.2) (6.8)
Amortisation of fair value adjustment on debt (1.3) --
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------
(5.0) (15.4)
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------
5. Tax
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- --------------------
Current tax
Current year at 19% (2016: 20%) 21.7 29.8
Total current tax 21.7 29.8
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- --------------------
Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of temporary differences - current year 12.8 6.7
Exceptional credit from rate change -- (39.8)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total deferred tax 12.8 (33.1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- --------------------
Total tax charge/(credit) 34.5 (3.3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- --------------------
The tax charge in the income statement is calculated at a rate
of 18.9% (2016 (restated): 20.0% excluding the exceptional credit
arising from the corporation tax rate change), representing the
best estimate of the annual average effective income tax rate
expected for the full year applied to the pre-tax income for the
six month period.
There was an exceptional deferred tax credit in 2016 of GBP39.8
million arising from the enactment of a reduction in the
corporation tax rate to 17% from 2020.
The underlying effective current tax rate was 13.1% (2016
(restated): 17.9%) see note 17.
Current tax credits of GBP5.7 million (2016: GBP0.7 million) and
deferred tax charges of GBP9.0 million (2016: credits of GBP72.0
million) have been taken to reserves in the period.
6. Discontinued operations
Operating Services US and Italy
The disposal of the group's US business (Operating Services,
US), which formed part of the Business Services segment, to US
investors PPC Enterprises LLC and Alston Capital Partners LLC was
completed on 30 June 2017. The group disposed of the Operating
Services business in Italy, which formed part of the Business
Services segment, on 23 February 2017 to Acea S.p.A.
Prior period figures in the consolidated income statement and
related notes have been restated to present separately amounts
relating to discontinued operations, as detailed in the stock
market announcement dated 19 July 2017 - "Trading update for the
period 1 April to 19 July 2017".
Water Plus joint venture
On 1 March 2016 the group announced its intention, subject to
approval from the Competition and Markets Authority ('CMA'), to
enter into a joint venture with United Utilities PLC to compete in
the non-household water and waste water retail markets in England
and Scotland. On 3 May 2016 the CMA announced approval of the joint
venture. On this date the group determined that completion of the
proposed transaction became highly probable and the non-household
retail business was classified as a disposal group and discontinued
operation with effect from this date. On 31 May 2016 the group
transferred Severn Trent Water's non-household retail business to
Severn Trent Select Limited and on 1 June it exchanged the entire
share capital of Severn Trent Select Limited for 50% of the share
capital of Water Plus.
The results of discontinued operations are disclosed separately
in the income statement and comprise:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
-------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Services Operating Services Operating Services Non
US US Italy household retail Total
(3 months) (6 months) (6 months) (2 months)
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
--------
Turnover 42.1 74.8 12.0 66.0 152.8
Total operating
costs (40.7) (72.3) (11.8) (63.6) (147.7)
Profit before
interest and tax 1.4 2.5 0.2 2.4 5.1
Net finance income -- 0.3 0.1 -- 0.4
Profit before tax 1.4 2.8 0.3 2.4 5.5
Attributable tax
expense -- (0.3) (0.1) (0.5) (0.9)
Gain on disposal of
discontinued
operations 16.1 -- -- 20.6 20.6
Profit for the
period
attributable to
owners of the
company 17.5 2.5 0.2 22.5 25.2
-------------------- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- ------------------ --------
Basic and diluted earnings per share from discontinued
operations are as follows:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
Profit Profit
attributable Weighted attributable Weighted
to owners of average number Per share to owners of average number Per share
the company of shares amount the company of shares amount
GBPm m pence GBPm m pence
Basic earnings
per share 17.5 235.7 7.4 25.2 236.1 10.7
Diluted
earnings per
share 17.5 236.6 7.4 25.2 236.9 10.6
---------------- -------------- --------------- --------------- -------------- --------------- ---------------
The net cash flows arising from the discontinued operations in
the period were:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Services Operating Services Operating Services
US US Italy Non household retail Total
(3 months) (6 months) (6 months) (2 months)
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
Operating activities 1.9 0.9 (2.2) 1.9 0.6
Investing activities (0.6) (1.4) 0.1 -- (1.3)
Financing activities -- -- 1.1 3.5 4.6
1.3 (0.5) (1.0) 5.4 3.9
--------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -------------------- --------------------- ------
The net gain on disposals in the period is calculated as
follows:
Operating Services
US Non- household retail
GBPm GBPm
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ----------------------
Consideration 47.8 25.5
Net assets attributable to owners of the company (45.5) (3.5)
2.3 22.0
Tax on gain on disposal (0.7) --
Disposal costs and provisions on disposal (15.3) (1.4)
Foreign exchange gain recycled from reserves 29.8 --
Net gain on disposal 16.1 20.6
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ----------------------
The net assets of the businesses at the date of disposal
were:
Operating Services
US Non-household retail
GBPm GBPm
Goodwill 14.4 --
Other intangible assets 2.9 --
Property, plant and equipment 9.4 --
Inventories 0.6 --
Trade and other receivables 28.2 0.6
Cash and bank balances 9.9 3.5
Trade and other payables (19.9) (0.6)
Net assets attributable to owners of the company 45.5 3.5
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ---------------------
The net cash flows arising from disposals were:
Six months ended 30 September
Operating Services
US Non-household retail
GBPm GBPm
Consideration received in cash and cash equivalents 39.3 --
Disposal costs paid in cash and cash equivalents (2.5) (1.4)
Cash and bank balances disposed of (9.9) (3.5)
26.9 (4.9)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------- ---------------------
7. Dividends
Amounts recognised as distributions to owners of the company in
the period:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
------------------------ ------------------------
Pence per share GBPm Pence per share GBPm
-------------------------------------------- ---------------- ------ ---------------- ------
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 48.90 115.2 48.40 114.0
-------------------------------------------- ---------------- ------ ---------------- ------
The proposed interim dividend of 34.63p per share (2016: 32.60p
per share) was approved by the Board on 22 November 2017 and has
not been included as a liability as at 30 September 2017.
8. Earnings per share
a) Basic and diluted earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings
attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average
number of ordinary shares in issue during the period, excluding
those held in the Severn Trent Employee Share Ownership Trust,
which are treated as cancelled.
For diluted earnings per share, the weighted average number of
ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of all
potentially dilutive ordinary shares. These represent share options
granted to employees where the exercise price is less than the
average market price of the company's shares during the period.
Basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing and
discontinued operations are calculated on the basis of profit from
continuing and discontinued operations attributable to the owners
of the company.
The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based
on the following data:
Earnings for the purpose of basic and diluted earnings per share
from continuing operations
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
Profit for the period attributable to owners of the company 165.0 210.4
Adjusted for profit from discontinued operations (see note 6) (17.5) (25.2)
Profit for the period from continuing operations attributable to owners of the company 147.5 185.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- -----------
Number of shares
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
m m
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------ ------
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of basic earnings per share 235.7 236.1
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares:
- share options and LTIPs 0.9 0.8
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of diluted earnings per share 236.6 236.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ ------
b) Underlying earnings per share
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
pence pence
Underlying basic earnings per share 65.9 61.2
Underlying diluted earnings per share 65.7 61.0
---------------------------------------- ------ -----------
Underlying earnings per share figures are presented for
continuing operations. The denominators used in the calculations of
underlying basic and diluted earnings per share are the same as
those used in the unadjusted figures set out above.
The adjustments to earnings are as follows:
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
Earnings for the purpose of basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations 147.5 185.2
Adjustments for:
- exceptional items before tax (8.3) (21.0)
- net losses on financial instruments 5.0 15.4
- current tax on net losses on financial instruments (1.6) (2.0)
- deferred tax 12.8 6.7
- exceptional credit arising from rate change -- (39.8)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earnings for the purpose of underlying basic and diluted earnings per share 155.4 144.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
9. Borrowings
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
GBPm GBPm
---------------------------------- ------------- ---------
Bank loans 926.2 1,073.3
Other loans 4,353.5 4,090.0
Obligations under finance leases 115.4 115.7
Borrowings 5,395.1 5,279.0
----------------------------------- ------------- ---------
The borrowings are repayable as follows:
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
GBPm GBPm
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------
On demand or within one year - included in current liabilities 503.8 559.4
Over one year - included in non-current liabilities 4,891.3 4,719.6
5,395.1 5,279.0
---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- ---------
10. Fair value of financial instruments
a) Fair value measurements
The table below describes the valuation technique that the group
applies for each class of financial instrument which is measured at
fair value on a recurring basis. All techniques are classified as
Level 2 under the hierarchy defined by IFRS 13 except for the
inflation swap, which is classified as Level 3. During the current
period a loss of GBP0.9m has been recognised in the income
statement with respect to this instrument. There have been no
changes in the levels of classification during the period.
30 September 2017 31 March 2017
GBPm GBPm Valuation techniques and key inputs
---------------------- ------------------ -------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
Cross currency swaps Discounted cash flow
Assets 34.4 43.4 Future cash flows are estimated based on forward interest
rates from observable yield curves
at the period end and contract interest rates discounted
at a rate that reflects the credit
risk of counterparties. The currency cash flows are
translated at spot rate.
---------------------- ------------------ -------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
Interest rate swaps Discounted cash flow
Assets 17.8 23.6 Future cash flows are estimated based on forward interest
rates from observable yield curves
at the period end and contract interest rates discounted
at a rate that reflects the credit
risk of counterparties.
----------------------------------------------------------
Liabilities (121.3) (183.9)
---------------------- ------------------ -------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
Energy swaps Discounted cash flow
Assets 0.1 - Future cash flows are estimated based on forward
electricity prices from observable indices
at the period end and contract prices discounted at a
rate that reflects the credit risk of
counterparties.
----------------------------------------------------------
Liabilities (0.1) (0.8)
---------------------- ------------------ -------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
Inflation swap Discounted cash flow
Liabilities (0.9) - Future cash flows on the RPI leg of the instrument are
estimated based on observable forward
inflation indices.
Future cash flows on the CPI leg of the instrument are
estimated based on the future expected
differential between RPI and CPI.
Both legs are discounted using observable swap rates at
the period end, at a rate that reflects
the credit risk of counterparties.
---------------------- ------------------ -------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
b) Comparison of fair value of financial instruments with their
carrying amounts
The directors consider that the carrying amounts of cash and
short term deposits, bank overdrafts, loans receivable from joint
ventures, trade receivables and trade payables are not materially
different from their fair values. Derivative financial instruments
are carried at fair value. The carrying values and estimated fair
values of other non-derivative financial instruments are set out
below. The estimated fair values do not take into account the
impact of interest rate swaps. At 30 September 2017, the group held
unhedged interest rate swaps and cross currency swaps that
converted fixed rate interest to floating on a net principal amount
of GBP601.6 million (31 March 2017: GBP205.3 million).
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
--------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
Carrying value Fair value Carrying value Fair value
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
--------------------- --------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
Floating rate debt
Bank loans 626.7 632.0 776.3 782.0
Currency bonds 39.2 39.2 40.1 40.1
Floating rate notes 147.7 156.4 147.7 156.4
813.6 827.6 964.1 978.5
--------------------- --------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
Fixed rate debt
Bank loans 185.8 186.1 186.4 186.6
Sterling bonds 2,507.3 2,926.9 2,257.2 2,746.2
Fixed rate notes 349.0 366.3 355.2 397.4
Other loans 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7
Finance leases 115.4 123.8 115.7 130.5
3,164.2 3,609.8 2,921.2 3,467.4
--------------------- --------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
Index-linked debt
Bank loans 113.7 126.1 110.6 126.7
Sterling bonds 1,216.2 1,970.6 1,195.8 2,063.1
Other loans 87.4 87.8 87.3 87.3
1,417.3 2,184.5 1,393.7 2,277.1
--------------------- --------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
5,395.1 6,621.9 5,279.0 6,723.0
--------------------- --------------- ----------- --------------- -----------
The above classification does not take into account the impact
of unhedged interest rate swaps or cross currency swaps.
Fixed rate sterling and currency bonds are valued using market
prices, which is a Level 1 valuation technique.
Index-linked bonds are rarely traded and therefore quoted prices
are not considered to be a reliable indicator of fair value.
Therefore, these bonds are valued using discounted cash flow models
with discount rates derived from observed market prices for a
sample of bonds, which is a Level 2 valuation technique.
Fair values of other debt instruments are also calculated using
discounted cash flow models, which is a Level 2 valuation
technique.
11. Retirement benefit schemes
The group operates three defined benefit schemes in the UK, two
from Severn Trent and one from Dee Valley Water. The Severn Trent
schemes are closed to future accrual. The group also has an
unfunded obligation to provide benefits to certain former employees
whose earnings were in excess of the pensions cap that operated
when the benefits were accrued. The most recent actuarial valuation
of the Severn Trent schemes was at 31 March 2016. Dee Valley Water
participates in the Dee Valley Water plc Section of the Water
Companies Pension Scheme, which is a defined benefit sectionalised
scheme. The most recent actuarial valuation of this scheme was at
31 March 2014.
The assumptions used in calculating the defined benefit
obligations as at 30 September 2017 have been updated to reflect
market conditions prevailing at the balance sheet date as
follows.
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
% %
-------------------------------- ------------- ---------
Price inflation 3.1 3.1
Discount rate 2.8 2.7
Salary increases n/a n/a
Pension increases in payment 3.1 3.1
Pension increases in deferment 3.1 3.1
--------------------------------- ------------- ---------
The defined benefit assets have been updated to reflect their
market value as at 30 September 2017. Actuarial gains and losses on
the scheme assets and defined benefit obligations have been
reported in the statement of comprehensive income. Service cost,
and the cost of administrating the scheme, are recognised in
operating costs and interest cost is recognised in net finance
costs.
Movements in the net deficit recognised in the balance sheet
were as follows:
Defined
Fair value benefit
of plan assets obligations Net deficit
GBPm GBPm GBPm
-------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- ------------- ---------------
At 1 April 2017 2,352.8 (2,927.4) (574.6)
Exceptional past service credit - 8.3 8.3
Scheme administration costs (1.4) - (1.4)
Net interest cost 30.6 (38.1) (7.5)
Actuarial (losses)/gains recognised in the statement of
comprehensive income (52.0) 59.2 7.2
Contributions from the sponsoring companies 0.7 - 0.7
Employees' contributions and benefits paid (49.2) 49.2 -
---------------- ------------- ---------------
At 30 September 2017 2,281.5 (2,848.8) (567.3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- ------------- ---------------
The net deficit is presented on the balance sheet as
follows:
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
GBPm GBPm
-------------------------------- ------------- ---------
Retirement benefit surplus 11.8 9.8
Retirement benefit obligations (579.1) (584.4)
(567.3) (574.6)
-------------------------------- ------------- ---------
12. Share capital
At 30 September 2017 the issued and fully paid share capital was
240.2 million shares of 97(17) /(19) p amounting to GBP235.1
million (31 March 2017: 239.8 million shares of 97(17) /(19) p
amounting to GBP234.7 million).
During the period the company issued 393,520 (2016: 417,453)
shares as a result of the exercise of employee share options. At 30
September 2017 the company held 3,948,599 (31 March 2017:
4,223,062) shares in treasury.
13. Cash flow
a) Reconciliation of operating profit to operating cash
flows
Six months ended 30 September
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
Profit before interest and tax from continuing operations 296.1 296.7
Profit before interest and tax from discontinued operations 17.5 25.7
Profit before interest and tax 313.6 322.4
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 156.4 149.4
Amortisation of intangible assets 10.0 9.3
Pension service cost (8.3) (21.0)
Defined benefit pension scheme administration costs 1.4 2.2
Defined benefit pension scheme contributions (0.7) (0.2)
Share based payments charge 3.5 2.8
Profit on sale of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (1.2) (0.3)
Profit on disposal of businesses (16.1) (20.6)
Deferred income movement (9.4) (5.8)
Provisions charged to the income statement 3.5 1.7
Utilisation of provisions for liabilities and charges (4.1) (0.7)
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital 448.6 439.2
Increase in inventory -- (0.6)
(Increase)/decrease in amounts receivable (34.9) 23.5
Increase in amounts payable 66.6 69.9
Cash generated from operations 480.3 532.0
Tax paid (0.1) (15.4)
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------- -----------
Net cash generated from operating activities 480.2 516.6
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------- -----------
b) Non-cash transactions
No additions to property, plant and equipment during the six
months to 30 September 2017 or 2016 were financed by new finance
leases.
c) Exceptional cash flows
There were no exceptional cash flows from the exceptional items
included in the income statement in either period.
d) Reconciliation of movements in net debt
Net cash and Cross Loans due
cash Finance currency from joint
equivalents Bank loans Other loans leases swaps ventures Net debt
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
--------------- -------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------------- -------------- ----------
As at 1 April
2017 44.6 (1,073.3) (4,090.0) (115.7) 43.4 108.6 (5,082.4)
Cash flow 107.2 150.6 (249.1) -- -- 12.5 21.2
Fair value
adjustments -- -- 0.9 -- (9.0) -- (8.1)
RPI uplift on
index-linked
debt -- (3.1) (20.5) -- -- -- (23.6)
Foreign
exchange (0.5) -- 7.6 -- -- -- 7.1
Other non-cash
movements -- (0.4) (2.4) 0.3 -- 0.1 (2.4)
--------------- -------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------------- -------------- ----------
As at 30
September
2017 151.3 (926.2) (4,353.5) (115.4) 34.4 121.2 (5,088.2)
--------------- -------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------------- -------------- ----------
14. Post balance sheet events
There are no post balance sheet events.
15. Contingent liabilities
Details of the group's contingent liabilities were disclosed in
the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2017 which
were approved on 22 May 2017. There have been no significant
developments relating to the contingent liabilities disclosed in
those financial statements.
16. Related party transactions
Transactions between the company and its subsidiaries, which are
related parties, have been eliminated on consolidation and are not
included in this note. Trading transactions between the group and
its joint ventures are disclosed below.
Six months ended 30 September Water Plus
-------------------------------------------------------
2017 2016
GBPm GBPm
------------------------------- --------------------------- --------------------------
Sale of services 187.9 127.0
Net interest income 0.9 --
-------------------------------- --------------------------- --------------------------
Outstanding balances between the group and the joint venture
were as follows:
Water Plus
--------------------------------------------------
30 September 31 March
2017 2017
GBPm GBPm
------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- -------------------------
Trade and other receivables due from related parties 0.7 37.6
Amounts due to related parties - (8.8)
Loans due from joint ventures 121.2 108.6
------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- -------------------------
The retirement benefit schemes operated by the group are
considered to be related parties. Details of transactions and
balances with the retirement benefit schemes are disclosed in note
11.
17. Alternative performance measures
Financial measures or metrics used in this report that are not
defined by IFRS are alternative performance measures. The group
uses such measures for performance analysis because they provide
additional useful information on the performance and position of
the group. Since the group defines its own alternative performance
measures, these might not be directly comparable with other
companies' alternative performance measures. These measures are not
intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS
measurements.
a) Exceptional items
Exceptional items are income or expenditure, which individually
or, if of a similar type, in aggregate should, in the opinion of
the directors, be disclosed by virtue of their size or nature if
the financial statements are to give a true and fair view. In this
context, materiality is assessed at the segment level.
b) Underlying PBIT
Underlying profit before interest and tax is profit before
interest and tax excluding exceptional items as recorded in the
income statement. This provides a consistent measure of operating
performance excluding distortions caused by exceptional items.
c) Underlying earnings per share
Underlying earnings per share figures are presented for
continuing operations. These exclude the effects of exceptional
items, net gains/losses on financial instruments, current tax on
exceptional items and on net gains/losses on financial instruments,
exceptional current tax and deferred tax. The directors consider
that the underlying figures provide a useful additional indicator
of performance and remove non-performance related distortions. See
note 8.
d) Net debt
Net debt comprises borrowings including remeasurements for
changes in fair value of amounts in fair value hedging
relationships, cross currency swaps that are used to fix the
sterling liability of foreign currency borrowings (whether hedge
accounted or not), net cash and cash equivalents, and loans to
joint ventures. See note 13.
e) Effective interest rate
The effective interest rate is calculated as net finance costs,
excluding net finance costs from pensions, plus capitalised finance
costs divided by the monthly average net debt during the year.
(net finance costs -- net finance costs from
pensions + capitalised finance costs)
---------------------------------------------
(monthly average net debt(1) )
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
--------------------------------- -------- -----------
Net finance costs 110.5 98.5
Net finance costs from pensions (7.5) (5.5)
Capitalised interest 11.3 8.4
----------------------------------- -------- -----------
114.3 101.4
--------------------------------- -------- -----------
Annualised 228.6 202.8
----------------------------------- -------- -----------
Average net debt 5,096.2 4,780.1
----------------------------------- -------- -----------
Effective interest rate* 4.5% 4.2%
----------------------------------- -------- -----------
* the rate is the annualised equivalent interest rate based on
that calculated for the six month period
This APM is used as it shows the average interest rate that is
attributable to the net debt of the business.
(1) Calculated as the average of the closing net debt each month
for the period ending 30 September 2017
f) Effective cash cost of interest
The effective cash cost of interest is calculated on the same
basis as the effective interest rate except that it excludes
finance costs that are not paid in cash but are accreted to the
carrying value of the debt (principally RPI adjustments on
index-linked debt).
(net finance costs -- net finance costs from pensions
-- RPI interest + capitalised finance costs)
------------------------------------------------------
(monthly average net debt)
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
---------------------------------- -------- -----------
Net finance costs 110.5 98.5
Net finance costs from pensions (7.5) (5.5)
RPI interest (23.6) (10.7)
Capitalised interest 11.3 8.4
------------------------------------ -------- -----------
90.7 90.7
---------------------------------- -------- -----------
Annualised 181.4 181.4
------------------------------------ -------- -----------
Average net debt 5,096.2 4,780.1
------------------------------------ -------- -----------
Effective cash cost of interest* 3.6% 3.8%
------------------------------------ -------- -----------
* the rate is the annualised equivalent interest rate based on
that calculated for the six month period
This is used as it shows the average cash interest rate based on
the net debt of the business.
g) PBIT interest cover
The ratio of profit from continuing operations before interest,
tax and exceptional items to net finance costs excluding net
finance costs from pensions.
underlying PBIT
----------------------------------
(net finance costs -- net finance
costs from pensions)
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
--------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
Underlying PBIT 287.8 275.7
Net finance costs 110.5 98.5
Net finance costs from pensions (7.5) (5.5)
Net finance costs excluding finance costs from pensions 103.0 93.0
----------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
ratio ratio
PBIT interest cover ratio 2.8 3.0
----------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
This is used to show how the underlying PBIT of the business
covers the financing costs associated only with net debt on a
consistent basis.
h) EBITDA and EBITDA interest cover
The ratio of profit from continuing operations before interest,
tax, exceptional items, depreciation and amortisation to net
finance costs excluding net finance costs from pensions.
(underlying PBIT + depreciation
+ amortisation)
----------------------------------
(net finance costs -- net finance
costs from pensions)
2017 2016
(restated)
GBPm GBPm
--------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
Underlying PBIT 287.8 275.7
Depreciation 155.8 148.0
Amortisation 9.6 8.7
EBITDA 453.2 432.4
----------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
Net finance costs 110.5 98.5
Net finance costs from pensions (7.5) (5.5)
Net finance costs excluding finance costs from pensions 103.0 93.0
----------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
ratio ratio
EBITDA interest cover ratio 4.4 4.6
----------------------------------------------------------- ------ -----------
This is used to show how the EBITDA of the business covers the
financing costs associated only with net debt on a consistent
basis.
i) Underlying effective current tax rate
The current tax charge on continuing operations, excluding prior
year charges, exceptional current tax, and current tax on
exceptional items and on financial instruments, divided by profit
from continuing operations before tax, net gains/losses on
financial instruments, exceptional items and share of net profit of
joint ventures accounted for using the equity method.
(Current tax on PBT -- tax on exceptional items -- tax
on net losses on financial instruments)
-------------------------------------------------------------
(PBT -- share of net profit of joint ventures -- exceptional
items -- net losses on financial instruments)
2017 2016
(restated)
------ -------------- -------- -------------
Tax thereon Tax thereon
GBPm GBPm GBPm GBPm
------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------------- -------- -------------
Profit before tax 182.0 (21.7) 181.9 (29.8)
------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------------- -------- -------------
Adjustments:
Share of net profit of joint ventures accounted for using the
equity method(2) (1.4) -- 0.9 --
Exceptional items (8.3) -- (21.0) --
Net losses on financial instruments 5.0 (1.6) 15.4 (2.0)
177.3 (23.3) 177.2 (31.8)
------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------------- -------- -------------
Underlying effective current tax rate 13.1% 17.9%
------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ -------------- -------- -------------
This APM is used to be remove distortions in the underlying tax
charge and create a metric consistent with the calculation of
underlying earnings per share in note 8.
(2) Share of net profit of joint ventures accounted for using
the equity method is recognised post tax incurred in the joint
ventures
Responsibility statement
We confirm to the best of our knowledge:
(a) the condensed set of financial statements has been prepared
in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting"; and
(b) the interim management report includes a fair review of the
information required by Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules
4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct
Authority.
Signed on behalf of the Board who approved the half yearly
financial report on 22 November 2017.
Andrew Duff James Bowling
Chairman Chief Financial Officer
INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO SEVERN TRENT PLC
We have been engaged by the company to review the condensed set
of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the
six months ended 30 September 2017 which comprises the condensed
consolidated income statement, the condensed consolidated statement
of comprehensive income, the condensed consolidated statement of
changes in equity, the condensed consolidated balance sheet, the
condensed consolidated cash flow statement and related notes 1 to
17. We have read the other information contained in the half-yearly
financial report and considered whether it contains any apparent
misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in
the condensed set of financial statements.
This report is made solely to the company in accordance with
International Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410
"Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the
Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Auditing Practices
Board. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the
company those matters we are required to state to it in an
independent review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest
extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility
to anyone other than the company, for our review work, for this
report, or for the conclusions we have formed.
Directors' responsibilities
The half-yearly financial report is the responsibility of, and
has been approved by, the directors. The directors are responsible
for preparing the half-yearly financial report in accordance with
the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's
Financial Conduct Authority.
As disclosed in note 1, the annual financial statements of the
group are prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the
European Union. The condensed set of financial statements included
in this half-yearly financial report has been prepared in
accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 "Interim
Financial Reporting" as adopted by the European Union.
Our responsibility
Our responsibility is to express to the company a conclusion on
the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly
financial report based on our review.
Scope of review
We conducted our review in accordance with International
Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410 "Review of
Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor
of the Entity" issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in
the United Kingdom. A review of interim financial information
consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for
financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other
review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an
audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on
Auditing (UK) and consequently does not enable us to obtain
assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters
that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not
express an audit opinion.
Conclusion
Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that
causes us to believe that the condensed set of financial statements
in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30
September 2017 is not prepared, in all material respects, in
accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 as adopted by
the European Union and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the
United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.
Deloitte LLP
Statutory Auditor
London, UK
22 November 2017
This document contains statements that are, or may be deemed to
be, 'forward-looking statements' with respect to Severn Trent's
financial condition, results of operations and business and certain
of Severn Trent's plans and objectives with respect to these
items.
Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always,
identified by their use of a date in the future or such words as
'anticipates', 'aims', 'due', 'could', 'may', 'will', 'would',
'should', 'expects', 'believes', 'intends', 'plans', 'projects',
'potential', 'reasonably possible', 'targets', 'goal', 'estimates'
or words with a similar meaning, and, in each case, their negative
or other variations or comparable terminology. Any forward-looking
statements in this document are based on Severn Trent's current
expectations and, by their very nature, forward-looking statements
are inherently unpredictable, speculative and involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and no assurances can be given that the forward-looking
statements in this document will be realised. There are a number of
factors, many of which are beyond Severn Trent's control, that
could cause actual results, performance and developments to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: the
Principal Risks disclosed in our latest Annual Report and Accounts
(which have not been updated since the date of its publication);
changes in the economies and markets in which the group operates;
changes in the regulatory and competition frameworks in which the
group operates; the impact of legal or other proceedings against or
which affect the group; and changes in interest and exchange
rates.
All written or verbal forward-looking statements, made in this
document or made subsequently, which are attributable to Severn
Trent or any other member of the group or persons acting on their
behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors
referred to above. No assurances can be given that the
forward-looking statements in this document will be realised. This
document speaks as at the date of publication. Save as required by
applicable laws and regulations, Severn Trent does not intend to
update any forward-looking statements and does not undertake any
obligation to do so. Past performance of securities of Severn Trent
Plc cannot be relied upon as a guide to the future performance of
securities of Severn Trent Plc.
Nothing in this document should be regarded as a profits
forecast.
This document is not an offer to sell, exchange or transfer any
securities of Severn Trent Plc or any of its subsidiaries and is
not soliciting an offer to purchase, exchange or transfer such
securities in any jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered, sold
or transferred in the United States absent registration or an
applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the US
Securities Act of 1933 (as amended).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
IR BLLLLDFFFFBL
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