Thames Water has returned to profit and secured sufficient funding through to Q4 2026, according to its Annual Results for the year to 31 March 2026 - Chief Executive Officer Chris Weston has described the company as “a very different business from what it was two years ago.”
In terms of financial resilience, the report shows that as at 31 March 2026, the group had total liquidity of £1.038 billion, comprising available cash of £551 million and £487 million of undrawn super senior loan facility. As at 30 June 2026, liquidity of £588 million comprised cash of £515 million and £73 million committed but undrawn from the initial super senior facility. A further £677 million of the accordion facility is available but not yet committed. The report says:
“With the support of our creditors, we have sufficient funding through to Q4 2026. We continue to work with our creditors, regulators and government to complete our recapitalisation and restore an investment grade credit rating.”
According to the report, the company has made progress made in improving the financial performance of the business while investing record sums in the network and working towards securing stable financial foundations through the recapitalisation process.
Thames is reporting an underlying profit after tax of £204 million (FY25: £13 million), reflecting stronger underlying operating performance. The year saw record capital investment of £2.68 billion million, up 20% on the previous year’s of £2.225 billion.
In terms of financial resilience, the report shows that as at 31 March 2026, the group had total liquidity of £1.038 billion, comprising available cash of £551 million and £487 million of undrawn super senior loan facility. As at 30 June 2026, liquidity of £588 million comprised cash of £515 million and £73 million committed but undrawn from the initial super senior facility. A further £677 million of the accordion facility is available but not yet committed. The report says:
“With the support of our creditors, we have sufficient funding through to Q4 2026. We continue to work with our creditors, regulators and government to complete our recapitalisation and restore an investment grade credit rating.”
Net cash outflow before debt funding increased to £1.13 billion (FY25: £942 million net outflow) as the increases in capital investment and net interest paid were higher than the increase in cash flow generated from customers
Underlying revenue rose 39% to £3.616 billion, (FY25: £2,603 million), largely driven by allowed tariff increases, with underlying operating profit of £1.282 billion.
However, net debt (statutory basis) rose to £18.516 billion (FY25: £16.794 bn), as Thames continued to fund the business through a combination of debt and internally generated cash flows, taking gearing to 86% (FY25: 84%) Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) grew to £22.725 billion, largely driven by the high level of capital investment
Highlights in operational performance flagged up in the report include:
- Met 55% (11 out of 20) of Ofwat common performance commitment targets (FY25: 38%, 5 out of 13)
- At or above average in 8 out of 12 common performance measures in Ofwat’s October 2025 Water Company Performance Report
- 18% reduction in pollutions and 27% reduction in serious pollutions (2025 vs 2024). 3rd out of 11 in the sector on a normalised basis (2024: 6th)
- 3rd lowest lost time injury rate of 11 water and sewerage companies (FY26)
- Continued improvement in leakage (15.1% lower than 2019/20 baseline, FY25 13.2%)
- 563,085 households on the WaterHelp social tariff, an increase of 38% (FY25: 408,823).
- £260 million affordability support provided to customers (FY25: £115 million), the largest customer support programme in the sector
“Customer revenue does not cover required expenditure - cash outflow before new debt funding was £1.1 billion”
Commenting on the results, Chris Weston said:
“Thames Water today is a very different business from what it was two years ago. While we have a lot more to achieve, the progress we have made in turning the company around has meant we are now performing better and are in a strong position to accelerate the delivery of the biggest upgrade of our infrastructure in 150 years. This upgrade will, over time, address asset resilience issues and translate into sustained improvements in the services we provide for our customers and impact on the environment.
“The upgrade of our network requires a material and sustained increase in capital investment over the next decade. This year we invested £2.7 billion, a 20% increase over last year, as we invested over £7 million every day to modernise our water and wastewater networks. We’ve grown our workforce by 12% creating new jobs and vital youth employment opportunities….
“Every pound of profit is reinvested in the business to improve our performance. Customer revenue does not cover our required expenditure and our cash outflow before new debt funding was £1.1 billion.
“Our transformation programme is improving operational discipline and resilience. As a result, we have seen improved performance across all areas of the company including reduced pollutions, down 18 per cent, over 88km of new pipe being laid, 1,700km of sewers cleaned and met more of Ofwat’s common performance commitments. There is still more to do, particularly on environmental performance….
“While operationally the business is improving, we are also working with our creditors, regulators and government to complete our recapitalisation to restore an investment grade credit rating, lower our cost of borrowing, attract new equity, to fund our AMP8 programme and beyond.
“Thames Water is changing for the better whilst continuing to deliver 2.6 billion litres of drinking water and treating 4.3 billion litres of wastewater every day. I am very proud of what we do and grateful for the continued support of the hard-working people who are committed to improving this business every day.”