Thames Water shareholders stump up £750m

Shareholders of Thames Water have agreed to pump in another £750m into the struggling debt-burdened utility to help keep it afloat.

With a debt pile of £14bn, the company faces a tough future, and was last week the government was reportedly preparing an emergency plan for a renationalisation amid severe criticism of its failures to deal with leaks and sewage pollution of rivers and streams all while paying large dividends to shareholders.

Investors also indicated they would stump up another £2.5bn during the 2025 to 2030 regulatory period.

"This further funding is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, including the preparation of a business plan that underpins a more focused turnaround that delivers targeted performance improvements for customers, the environment and other stakeholders," the company said in a statement.

Thames Water's owners include Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the UK's Universities Superannuation Scheme and China Investment Corp.

"Thames Water will carefully monitor progress towards satisfying the conditions for the additional shareholder funding and will keep under review pathways to ensure Thames Water's continued financial resilience," the company added.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com