Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022
We are in a unique position to make a real, positive contribution to society. We have proven to be resilient over the past year and will continue to rise to the challenges that lie ahead, playing our part in contributing to a sustainable water future.
As the water and wastewater service provider for the North West region of England, our purpose is why we exist and it drives us to focus on what matters to our stakeholders.
Communities
Customers
Employees
Environment
Investors
Suppliers
As the water and wastewater service provider for the North West region of England, our purpose is why we exist and it drives us to focus on what matters to our stakeholders.
supporting communities to be stronger;
caring for customers through trusted relationships;
protecting and enhancing the environment;
creating a great place to work for all our employees;
delivering a sustainable return to investors; and
innovating in partnership with suppliers.
Our purpose drives us to deliver ‘more’ for our stakeholders, which means creating value by understanding what matters to them through strong and constructive relationships.
We are helping over 200,000 households currently struggling with their bills, and maintaining a high level of service for customers. We are earning higher outperformance thanks to strong operational performance against customer outcome delivery incentives as well as financial outperformance. As a responsible company, we are sharing our success with customers, like we did in 2010–20, by investing an additional £765 million to help accelerate further enhancements for customers and the environment.
£280m
affordability support being provided over 2020–25, helping 200,000 households in the North West
£765m
additional investment being made over 2020–25 to deliver customer and environmental improvements
£25m
net reward earned this year against customer ODIs, the highest we have achieved in any year to date
In line with our purpose, we measure our operational performance by reference to the value we have created for six key stakeholder groups, and we monitor one operational key performance indicator (KPI) for each of these groups.
Our work places us at the heart of communities and we strive to engage fully with them and work closely in partnership
Our target
10%
increase in community investment compared with the average of £2.56 million per annum between 2010–20
Met expectation/target
We aim to deliver the best service and to give targeted support to any customers in vulnerable circumstances
Our target
Positive
reward territory on Ofwat’s customer measure of experience (C-MeX)
Met expectation/target
Having a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone goes home safe and well is one of our key priorities
Our target
Upper quartile
score against UK utilities norm for engagement
Met expectation/target
We work hard to protect and enhance the natural environment across the North West
Our target
Upper quartile
in the water industry in the EA’s Environmental Performance Assessment
Met expectation/target
We aim to deliver a sustainable return, exercising prudent financial risk management and strong ESG performance
Our target
RoRE
guidance will be updated throughout the period in line with guidance on individual elements
Met expectation/target
We strive to innovate in partnership with suppliers to find ways to improve our services for customers
Our target
95%
as the minimum of invoices paid within 60 working days of issue, in line with the Prompt Payment Code
Met expectation/target
£610m
Met expectation/target
No externally disclosed target (see note 1)
53.8p
Met expectation/target
No externally disclosed target (see note 1)
43.5p
Met expectation/target
CPIH inflation growth per annum over AMP7 (2020–25)
61%
Met expectation/target
55–65% gearing range
+27%
Close to meeting expectation/target
We assess our performance each year against listed peers in the utility sector and against the FTSE 100
£nil
deficit repair contributions
Met expectation/target
Maintaining low dependency pension schemes, meaning no deficit repair payments are needed
* Underlying profit measures have been re-presented for prior years so they are presented on a consistent basis to the years ended 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022.
Note 1: For both our operational and financial KPIs, where we have declared external targets we assess our performance against the most recent public targets. Where there are no externally declared targets we assess our performance against our internal budget; however, our internal budget is not disclosed.
Note 2: In some instances, the remuneration committee has used metrics with similar names but calculation methodologies which they consider more appropriate for executive remuneration.
We have delivered a solid set of financial results in a volatile market over the year to 31 March 2022, helped by our prudent financial risk management and efficient operational performance.
