Water Companies
Discussion
Where to start?
Directors bonuses, shareholder dividends, lack of investment, discharging sewage into rivers, outrageous price rises due.
I'm in the Anglian Water region and I could forgive some of that, BUT what comes out of my tap is truly horrible. Furs up the kettle, tastes disgusting, cloudy. So much so that our dog turns his nose up at it and drinks from a bowl outside which fills with rainwater.
b
ds.
Directors bonuses, shareholder dividends, lack of investment, discharging sewage into rivers, outrageous price rises due.
I'm in the Anglian Water region and I could forgive some of that, BUT what comes out of my tap is truly horrible. Furs up the kettle, tastes disgusting, cloudy. So much so that our dog turns his nose up at it and drinks from a bowl outside which fills with rainwater.
b
ds.Some things should never have been privatised.
Thames water have been on the brink of bankruptcy for ages now and bills will be going up well well beyond inflation and yet they’ll continue to pay staggering management bonuses ‘in order to attract the right talent’.
God knows what the wrong talent would do with that shower of a company.
Thames water have been on the brink of bankruptcy for ages now and bills will be going up well well beyond inflation and yet they’ll continue to pay staggering management bonuses ‘in order to attract the right talent’.
God knows what the wrong talent would do with that shower of a company.
valiant said:
Some things should never have been privatised.
Thames water have been on the brink of bankruptcy for ages now and bills will be going up well well beyond inflation and yet they’ll continue to pay staggering management bonuses ‘in order to attract the right talent’.
God knows what the wrong talent would do with that shower of a company.
Thames Water is a private utility company owned by Kemble Water Holdings Ltd, a consortium led by the Australian-owned Macquarie Group.Thames water have been on the brink of bankruptcy for ages now and bills will be going up well well beyond inflation and yet they’ll continue to pay staggering management bonuses ‘in order to attract the right talent’.
God knows what the wrong talent would do with that shower of a company.
It was sold to the company in 2006 for £8bn by previous owners RWE, a German multinational energy firm.
Thames Water also has a number of shareholders, including Canadian pensions group OMERS, the Universities Superannuation scheme, BT pension scheme, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the China Investment Corporation and the Kuwait Investment Authority. [METRO]
Strange now that they are being held to account for not delivering they are suddenly all "poor companies" and can't afford the infrastructure they were supposed to have put in already, and as with the Banks we the tax / bill payer get screwed over again. Oh and Thames Water get an £18m fine for loan to parent organisation of £130m which they have been told to return, and noted the £38m dividend paid in October [OfWAT] to drain the asset dry...
Average of £86 addition in April... link here to find your water company: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgx3rv7p21o
Edited by Wonderman on Thursday 19th December 14:48
Edited by Wonderman on Thursday 19th December 14:48
How on earth they have been allowed to load themselves up on debt to pay shareholder dividends is beyond me, how can the government allow a company to get so heavily in pretend dept thereby showing a loss that they are then allowed to come back to the consumer for more?
To say these rises will be ring fenced for investment is a joke, they'll just send more of the rest to investors.
It is totally outrageous.
To say these rises will be ring fenced for investment is a joke, they'll just send more of the rest to investors.
It is totally outrageous.
Sheets Tabuer said:
How on earth they have been allowed to load themselves up on debt to pay shareholder dividends is beyond me, how can the government allow a company to get so heavily in pretend dept thereby showing a loss that they are then allowed to come back to the consumer for more?
To say these rises will be ring fenced for investment is a joke, they'll just send more of the rest to investors.
It is totally outrageous.
I can't find the article now but it was on BBC business news. Basically explained that the parent company (A) who owns the water company (B) creates another finance company as a sister company (C) for £1. (B) buys (C). (A) then sets up an IOU with (C) for a billion pounds. So (C) is now worth a billion while (A) has a debt of a billion so still nothing changes.To say these rises will be ring fenced for investment is a joke, they'll just send more of the rest to investors.
It is totally outrageous.
But (B) now has an investment which has gone up in value from £1 to a billion pounds. This then gives (B) enough assets for leverage to be able to pay dividends to (A).
Rinse and repeat. Literally rinsing UK tax payers.
leef44 said:
I can't find the article now but it was on BBC business news. Basically explained that the parent company (A) who owns the water company (B) creates another finance company as a sister company (C) for £1. (B) buys (C). (A) then sets up an IOU with (C) for a billion pounds. So (C) is now worth a billion while (A) has a debt of a billion so still nothing changes.
But (B) now has an investment which has gone up in value from £1 to a billion pounds. This then gives (B) enough assets for leverage to be able to pay dividends to (A).
Rinse and repeat. Literally rinsing UK tax payers.
This one?But (B) now has an investment which has gone up in value from £1 to a billion pounds. This then gives (B) enough assets for leverage to be able to pay dividends to (A).
Rinse and repeat. Literally rinsing UK tax payers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd75nqwdpj7o
Why is drinking water and sewage in the same entity anyway? To my mind they should be entirely separate where the sewage systems/storm water are maintained nationally with separate systems for each, storm water should not be mixed with foul drains where it creates the dumping of foul water and storm water into the waterways during periods of heavy rain. I did read that if it was left to the water companies to manage the split of foul drains and storm water then the bill would come to an additional £900 a year per household, this in my mind, should be managed and funded by the state and not the water companies. The whole system is becoming un-manageable where in some areas no new connections can be made to the sewage systems because they are already over capacity.
The people who are being very quiet are the ones who made a load of cash out of it.
I was at school when Thatcher/Major did the majority of privatisation, but I understand someone would have bought their shares and cashed in?
Similarly people working in finance, banking etc will have all benefited from this extra cash "in the system".
People act surprised that a private company is going to want profits, but then you see a few threads on here about "what £50k weekend toy?" and "can I get a swimming pool for £100k?"
And you realise that's just how capitalism works - not that socialism works any better. Ultimately if the UK taxpayer/consumer wants better quality water infrastructure then they need to pay for it. The shareholders are not going to donate their wealth to the UK because they read this thread and feel sorry for us.
I was at school when Thatcher/Major did the majority of privatisation, but I understand someone would have bought their shares and cashed in?
Similarly people working in finance, banking etc will have all benefited from this extra cash "in the system".
People act surprised that a private company is going to want profits, but then you see a few threads on here about "what £50k weekend toy?" and "can I get a swimming pool for £100k?"
And you realise that's just how capitalism works - not that socialism works any better. Ultimately if the UK taxpayer/consumer wants better quality water infrastructure then they need to pay for it. The shareholders are not going to donate their wealth to the UK because they read this thread and feel sorry for us.
Many water supply companies, e.g. Bristol, Portsmouth... always were private.
The last few years, South West Water have been trying to flog their shares to their customers.
despite our water costing much more than Thames, I don't see their shares and divs as worth touching with a stick.
Perhaps if London people were prepared to pay as much for their water as we have to, they could expect a better service?
The last few years, South West Water have been trying to flog their shares to their customers.
despite our water costing much more than Thames, I don't see their shares and divs as worth touching with a stick.
Perhaps if London people were prepared to pay as much for their water as we have to, they could expect a better service?
Diderot said:
valiant said:
Some things should never have been privatised.
Precisely this. In our locality (South Coast), Southern Water can’t help themselves but pour s
t into the rivers, the sea, and Chichester Harbour. They really are a cunch of bunts. kers.Wonderman said:
leef44 said:
I can't find the article now but it was on BBC business news. Basically explained that the parent company (A) who owns the water company (B) creates another finance company as a sister company (C) for £1. (B) buys (C). (A) then sets up an IOU with (C) for a billion pounds. So (C) is now worth a billion while (A) has a debt of a billion so still nothing changes.
But (B) now has an investment which has gone up in value from £1 to a billion pounds. This then gives (B) enough assets for leverage to be able to pay dividends to (A).
Rinse and repeat. Literally rinsing UK tax payers.
This one?But (B) now has an investment which has gone up in value from £1 to a billion pounds. This then gives (B) enough assets for leverage to be able to pay dividends to (A).
Rinse and repeat. Literally rinsing UK tax payers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd75nqwdpj7o
I'm surprised Labour has not shut down this loop hole immediately.
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