Down today (ex big div) but severn trent seem to have an almost perfect large inverse H&S beginning in mid Jul and completing last week. 680ish is going to be an interesting level either way.

Beaufort Securities Buy 1,757.00 - - Reiterates

Citigroup Neutral 1,757.00 1,520.00 1,750.00 Reiterates

Barclays Capital Equal weight 1,757.00 - 1,765.00 Downgrades

Waste and water group Severn Trent slipped a further 11p at 1,754p after Barclays Capital downgraded the stock to equal-weight from overweight.

£17.50 seems a reasonable entry point, but could be wrong.

Divi out paying 45.51p. this week.

I've been filled @1,700p.

Nice one, can't see it going any lower today at least.

I hope so Stan - I must be honest - I forgot I'd put the limit in - well it was yesterday!

Interim Management Statement


The Board of Severn Trent Plc confirms that trading across the group has been in line with its expectations and prior guidance.

Regulated business
Customer prices in Severn Trent Water increased by 2.0% from 1 April 2013, reflecting November RPI of 3.0% and a k-factor of minus 1.0%. Consumption across our measured income base has declined year on year in the period, in line with our expectations.

Our forecasted bad debt level is maintained at around 2.2% of turnover for the full year, and we continue to monitor developments such as unemployment levels and changes to the UK benefits system closely.

Operating expenditure continues to be in line with the Board's expectations for the year and, on a like for like basis, in line with the level of the Final Determination. Operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and increases in quasi taxes, partially offset by efficiency improvements.

Expectations for net capital expenditure (UK GAAP after deducting grants and contributions) remain in the range £600 million to £620 million, including an estimated £15 million related to private drains and sewers. The level of net infrastructure renewals expenditure included in this range is anticipated to be £135 million to £145 million.

Non-regulated business
In Severn Trent Services we expect to see the benefits of our previous investments in growth areas. Growth will however be second half weighted as indicated by timing of deliveries from the Water Purification order book.

Group
The group interest charge is expected to be higher year on year due to higher net debt and with the adoption of revisions to IAS19 increasing the pension accounting interest charge. The year on year impact of this revision to IAS 19 is estimated at £13m.

The effective current tax rate for the group for 2013/14 is expected to remain between 23% and 25%.

Under our dividend policy of RPI+3% growth the dividend for 2013/14 is set to be 80.40 pence, representing growth of 6% year on year.

Other
In early May Severn Trent Plc received an approach from LongRiver Partners, a consortium led by Borealis Infrastructure Management, about a possible offer for the company. On June 11th LongRiver Partners confirmed that it did not intend to make an offer for Severn Trent Plc, and that it is bound by the restrictions under Rule 2.8 of the Takeover Code. In addressing this approach, the board of Severn Trent plc has incurred costs for advisory, legal and other services of approximately £19 million in aggregate.

Severn Trent Plc will announce its interim results for the period ending 30 September 2013 on 26 November 2013.

Morgan Stanley Underweight 1,549.50 1,546.00 1,185.00 1,185.00 Reiterates

L&G dip below 4% http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4671492

Interim's out tomorrow and to think that £22 was spoken of in the summer, under £18 now.

Half Yearly Report

Highlights

●Financial results in line to deliver full year expectations
●Below inflation bill increase for customers this year - Severn Trent remains lowest average combined bill in England and Wales
●Operating costs for adoption of PDaS, up to an estimated £41 million in total over the current regulatory period, being absorbed by Severn Trent Water
●Customer service, sewer flooding and supply interruptions all improving1. 8 Ofwat KPIs in upper quartile2 (vs. 4 in prior year)
●Additional £150 million investment programme continuing to deliver service improvements for the benefit of customers - £91 million invested to date
●Estimated RCV3 at September 2013 £7,511 million, on track to reach £8 billion by March 2015
●Bad debt stable and amongst lowest in industry, with a range of Severn Trent social tariffs to help customers
●Maintained underlying group PBIT despite rising power costs whilst delivering service improvements; interim dividend growth in line with policy
●Completed extensive stakeholder engagement programme as part of Business Plan for next regulatory period, AMP6 - on track to submit plan to Ofwat by 2 December
●New CEO announced - Liv Garfield to join Severn Trent in Spring 2014

Interim Management Statement

Severn Trent Plc Interim Management Statement
for the period 1 October 2013 to 13 February 2014

The Board of Severn Trent Plc confirms that the group's trading performance overall remains in line with its expectations and prior guidance.

Regulated business
Consumption across our measured income base is expected to be slightly higher year on year, given current volumes.

Our forecasted bad debt level is maintained at around 2.2% of turnover for the full year, and we continue to monitor developments such as unemployment levels and changes to the UK benefits system closely.

Operating expenditure continues to be in line with the Board's expectations for the year and, on a like for like basis, in line with the level of the Final Determination. Operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and power costs, partially offset by efficiency improvements. We currently anticipate no material financial impact from the present floods.

Net capital expenditure (UK GAAP after deducting grants and contributions) is expected to be towards the low end of the £600 million to £620 million range, including an estimated £15 million related to private drains and sewers. The level of net infrastructure renewals expenditure included in this range is anticipated to be £135 million to £145 million.

On 2 December 2013 Severn Trent Water submitted its business plan for 2015-2020 to Ofwat. On 19 December 2013, Ofwat published a revised price review process and timetable. Ofwat subsequently published guidance on risk and reward on 27 January 2014. We await further announcements from Ofwat on plan ratings, starting on March 10 2014.

Non-regulated business
Operating Services continues to perform well year on year, but in Products shipments have been below expectations in the last two months due to continuing customer project and delivery delays. Therefore for the full year Severn Trent Services underlying PBIT is now expected to be lower year on year.

Group
The group interest charge is expected to be higher year on year due to higher net debt and with the adoption of revisions to IAS19 increasing the pension accounting interest charge. The year on year impact of this revision to IAS19 is estimated at £13m.

The effective current tax rate for the group for 2013/14 is expected to be between 21% and 23%.

Under our dividend policy of RPI+3% growth the dividend for 2013/14 is set to be 80.40 pence, representing growth of 6% year on year.

Severn Trent Plc will announce its Preliminary results for the financial year ending 31 March 2014 on 29 May 2014.

Severn Trent Water - Regulatory Update

Final Results

Highlights

● In-line or below inflation bill increases for last four years - Severn Trent remains lowest average combined bill in England and Wales

● Increased investment - £602 million capital expenditure (+8% year on year) - continues to improve services for the benefit of customers

● Customer service, sewer flooding and supply interruptions all improving

○ Improved or stable performance on 10 out of 14 Ofwat KPIs year on year

○ Customer satisfaction (SIM score) improved for 3rd consecutive year

● Continued growth in RCV1,2 from £7,364 million to £7,618 million (+3.4%)

● Group underlying PBIT rose 4.3% year on year

○ Severn Trent Water underlying PBIT rose 4.0%

● Delivering on dividend policy - 6.0% growth year on year to 80.40 pence

● Constructive engagement with Ofwat on 2015-2020 business plan. Revised plan submission 27 June, draft determination expected 29 August, final determination expected 12 December

Deutsche Bank Buy 1,973.00 1,973.00 2,000.00 2,150.00 Reiterates

Interim Management Statement

The Board of Severn Trent Plc confirms that trading across the group has been in line with its expectations and prior guidance.

Regulated business
Customer bills increased by less than inflation, with prices at Severn Trent Water increasing by 1.5% from 1 April 2014, reflecting November RPI of 2.6% and a k-factor of minus 1.1%. For the full year we still expect consumption across our measured income base to be lower year on year.

We have continued to manage our bad debt effectively, with our forecasted bad debt level maintained at around 2.2% of turnover for the full year, and we continue to monitor developments such as unemployment levels and changes to the UK benefits system closely.

Operating expenditure continues to be in line with the Board's expectations for the year and, on a like for like basis, in line with the level of the Final Determination. Operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and increases in quasi taxes and power costs, partially offset by efficiency improvements.

We have made good progress in delivering our capital investment programme. Expectations for net capital expenditure (UK GAAP after deducting grants and contributions) remain in the range £510 million to £530 million, including an estimated £15 million related to private drains and sewers. The level of net infrastructure renewals expenditure included in this range is anticipated to be £125 million to £135 million.

Following our best ever environmental performance last year, Severn Trent Water has now been ranked as the industry leading company in 2013 by the Environment Agency's National Environmental Performance Assessment Process, and is the only company to achieve their highest four star rating.

PR14
During the period Severn Trent Water submitted its revised business plan for 2015-2020 to Ofwat. The revised plan reflects guidance given by Ofwat in January 2014 on risk and reward, and the constructive dialogue Severn Trent Water has had with Ofwat to address evidence requests highlighted in the risk based review published in April 2014. As announced on June 27, elements of the plan that change since first submission in December 2013 are:

· Adoption of Ofwat's risk and reward guidance (overall weighted average cost of capital for the appointed business of 3.85%, real);
· PAYG (pay as you go) rate for the wholesale business of c.57% (from c.55% in the December plan);
· Outcome delivery incentives (ODIs) range in line with Ofwat's guidance;
· Total expenditure (totex) of £6.2 billion (vs. £6.1 billion in December plan)1;
· Legacy adjustments - the revised plan includes an additional £10 million shortfall to RCV to reflect serviceability performance that fell short of our targets;
· Customer bills will decrease in real terms by an average equivalent of 1.5% over the five year period (1.2% real decrease in December plan); average household bills remain frozen in year one.

1. 2012/13 prices


Severn Trent Water will continue to have the lowest combined average bill in England and Wales for the 2015-2020 period. Severn Trent Water believes the revised Plan is fair, financeable, and balances the interests of all stakeholders between value for money, delivering better outcomes and returns for investors. Ofwat will now carefully review and assess the plan and a draft determination is expected on 29 August.


Non-regulated business
In Severn Trent Services we expect to see further growth in Operating Services. In Products we expect to see the benefits of the restructuring programme, which is currently being implemented and on track to deliver the benefits as expected.

Group
The group interest charge is expected to be higher year on year due to higher net debt.

The effective current tax rate for the group for 2014/15 is expected to be between 20% and 22%.

Under our dividend policy of RPI+3% growth the dividend for 2014/15 is set to be 84.90 pence, representing growth of 5.6% year on year.

Severn Trent Plc will announce its interim results for the period ending 30 September 2014 on 25 November 2014.

Half Yearly Report

Highlights


● Good first six months: financial results in line with expectations
● Capital investment on track to deliver AMP5 target of £2.6 billion; RCV1 still expected to be £7.8 billion at April 2015
● Good performance for customers:

○ Lowest average combined bills in the land for 2014/15
○ Committed to launching new and enhanced social tariff scheme in April 2015

● Improving performance on many operational metrics - encouraging for new incentive regime starting April 2015

○ Leakage and sewer flooding reduced in first six months of this year
○ More to do in other areas

● Constructive dialogue continues with Ofwat ahead of final determination on 12 December
● Progressing well with plans to deliver the efficiencies required in AMP6
● Investing early: £15 million of AMP6 capex brought forward to second half of this year

Interim Management Statement

The Board of Severn Trent Plc confirms that the group is on track to deliver in line with its expectations for the full year.

Regulated business
Consumption across our measured income base is now expected to be slightly higher year on year as a result of the warmer weather.

We anticipate our bad debt level will remain unchanged at around 2.2% of turnover (UK GAAP) for the full year.

Operating expenditure continues to be in line with the Board's expectations for the year and, on a like for like basis, in line with the level of the Final Determination for AMP5. Operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and quasi taxes, partially offset by efficiency improvements.

Expectations for net capital expenditure (UK GAAP after deducting grants and contributions) remain at £530 million to £545 million. The level of expected net infrastructure renewals expenditure included in capital investment remains £130 million to £140 million.

During the period Severn Trent Water accepted the Final Determination from Ofwat for the period 2015-2020, published on 12 December 2014.

Non-regulated business
We continue to expect top line growth to moderate in the second half, although full year PBIT is still anticipated to be in line with our expectations.

Group
The group interest charge is now forecast to be lower year on year. A higher level of net debt will be more than offset by a higher level of capitalised interest, as a result of a shift in the profile of major capital schemes, and a lower non cash RPI interest charge due to falling RPI.

Expectations for the effective current tax rate for the group remain between 18% and 20%.

Under our dividend policy for AMP5 of RPI+3% growth the total dividend for 2014/15 is expected to be 84.90 pence, representing growth of 5.6% year on year.

The Group also announced its new dividend policy for the period 2015-2020. The 2015/16 dividend will be set at 80.66 pence, a reduction of 5% compared to the current year total dividend of 84.90 pence. The policy will then be to grow the dividend annually at no less than RPI until March 2020.

In November 2014 the group announced proposals to create a new organisational structure to respond to the challenges of AMP 6. This programme is now nearing completion, which will give rise to an expected exceptional charge of £25 million - £30 million in the second half of the year. The anticipated annual benefits of this reorganisation are anticipated to be circa. £20 million from FY 2015/16.

Severn Trent Plc will hold a capital markets day on 17 March to provide more detail on its business plan for the period 2015-2020. The company will announce its Preliminary Results for the financial year ending 31 March 2015 on 22 May 2015.