OREANDA-NEWS. This 32 million pounds is in addition to the previously announced ?1 million-a-day capital investment programme (totalling 1.7 billion pounds between 2015 and 2020) and commitment to keep the average household water and sewerage bill below the rate of inflation in every year until 2020. The company also announced its best overall performance and that it will consult its customers over the summer on how any future financial surpluses could be used.

Robert Ayling, Welsh Water Chairman, said: "I am glad and proud to report that after 15 years of our ownership, Welsh Water is in very good shape both operationally and financially. Our sole purpose is to achieve the highest standards for customers at the lowest possible cost. We have shown that our non-shareholder model of ownership can deliver that."

Welsh Water's Chief Executive, Chris Jones said: "Our unique ownership model allows us to use, for the benefit of our customers, money that in other companies would be paid to shareholders.

This will help cut our costs - and therefore customers' bills - by generating more energy on our own sites; by improving the service in areas where we're having repeat problems; providing additional support for customers struggling to pay; and to help build a new environmental visitor attraction in Pembrokeshire."

"Customers have indicated that they want to see us strike the right balance between keeping bills low today, improving performance where it isn't to the standard they expect, and investing now to cut the cost for future customers. The additional ?32 million of funding announced today will help us strike that balance and our research shows that customers support this package by four to one.  

"We also believe it is important that customers have a voice in how the value generated by our not-for-profit model is used in the future. We will shortly launch a consultation over the summer months inviting our customers to have their say on this most vital of public services."

Notes to Editors:

Benefits of the additional 32 million pounds will include:

·     Providing financial assistance through the funding of social tariffs for customers who are truly struggling to pay their water bill (with a target of helping 100,000 customers by 2020)

·     Additional renewable energy generation and efficiency projects (including hydro, solar, and small-scale wind) in order to reduce energy costs, environmental impact and keep customer's bills lower in the long term

·     Improvements to the water supply network in the Rhondda Valley, including the renewal of 33 km of water main improving water supplies to almost 20,000 properties

·     Improvements to the water supply network in north Pembrokeshire, including the renewal of 7 km of water mains and other significant works in the surrounding area to improve water supplies to over 11,000 properties

·     2 million pounds  to part-fund the building of a new Visitor Centre and tourist attraction at Llys y Fran reservoir in Pembrokeshire.

Preliminary Financial Results:

·     The company's Preliminary Financial Results show strong overall performance.

·     For the seventh year running, the company has kept bill increases below the rate of RPI inflation - keeping it on course to be the only water company to deliver a decade of below RPI price increases by 2020

·     Welsh Water, which contributes around 1 billion pounds a year to the Welsh economy, also reports its best ever environmental performance.  Its investment in this area is reflected in the increase of Blue Flags seen in Wales to 47 in 2016 - which is around a third of those awarded across the UK despite only having 15% of the coastline

·     The company also secured second place in industry regulator Ofwat's Customer Satisfaction Survey league table for 2015-16 compared with other water and sewerage companies in Wales and England.  According to independent benchmarking research conducted by Water UK, Welsh Water also continues to lead the industry in supporting housing development, securing first place for the year as a whole, for both water and sewerage services

·     The company is on course to deliver a record ?1.7 billion investment programme by 2020 with examples of investment projects including:

·     increasing resilience of drinking water for 100,000 customers near Conwy in north Wales through a ?31 million investment at Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works 

·     safeguarding water quality issues in Hereford by investing ?5.7 million to replace more than 42 km of old cast iron main which can cause discoloured water

·     reducing the risk of local sewer flooding which could adversely impact its customers and the  environment by starting work on a further ?25 million investment programme in its innovative RainScape programme in Llanelli and Gowerton over the next five years. This follows a ?15 million investment in recent years and is aimed at removing more surface water from its combined sewer network

·     2.7 million pounds to increase capacity on the wastewater network in Mumbles which will benefit local bathing water quality

·     1.1 million pounds to replace almost 10 km of water main in Raglan to reduce the risk of discoloured water to customers

Financial Results

·     Bill increase remains below the rate of inflation for seventh year running.  After deducting the effect of RPI inflation, Welsh Water's average household bill is now lower than it was in the year before Glas Cymru took over the ownership of Welsh Water in 2001

·     Operating costs of ?297 million were ?2 million higher than in the previous year (2015: ?295 million)

·     Underlying profit of ?18 million retained for the benefit of customers (2015:
77 million pounds)

·     Gearing - total net borrowings as a percentage of regulatory asset value - down to 57% from 93% in 2001 (2015 - 60%)

·     Glas Cymru has the highest credit rating in the UK utilities sector

·     Capital investment of 279 million pounds  (2015: 379 million pounds), which is part of a 1.7 billion pounds investment plan between 2015 and 2020

·     Over 150 million pounds of value has been returned to customers over the five years to 2015 through funding accelerated investment, by providing our current unique range of social tariffs, and  absorbing the costs of operating private sewers (which transferred to Welsh Water's ownership in October 2011)

·     Governance structure changed to create new holding company for the Group - Glas Cymru Holdings Cyf - to enable the business to provide additional water-related services to its customers.