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.

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.

"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."

A reduction in divi eh?

Final Results

Successful end to AMP5, ready for AMP6

Highlights
· Good financial performance:
o Adjusted EPS up 15.9% year on year
o Underlying group PBIT £540.3 million, up 3.2% year on year
o Reported group PBIT up 2.6% year on year
· Focus on operational improvement
o Improved or stable performance on 12 out of 14 Ofwat KPIs year on year
o Achieved target of 10% reduction in leakage over AMP5
· Invested a further £547.4 million to complete AMP5 programme of £2.6 billion; RCV1 £7.7 billion at April 2015
· Customer bills remain the lowest in Britain at an average combined bill of £329 for 2015/16
· Severn Trent Services re-focused - disposal of Water Purification business (US$ 81.2 million2)
· Industry leader in renewable energy - self generation equivalent to 28% of Severn Trent Water's energy needs
· Reported group PBT £148.2 million, reflecting fair value losses on financial instruments
· Well positioned for AMP6
o Largest investment programme ever - £3.33 billion capital investment
o New organisational structure and management team
o £300 million of £372 million3 target efficiencies already locked in
o Focused on outperformance
o 2015/16 dividend 80.66 pence, followed by annual growth of no less than RPI until 2020

Interim Management Statement

There has been no material change to business performance or outlook since the Preliminary Results on 22 May 2015. The Board considers that the Group will deliver trading performance consistent with its expectations and prior guidance, with the exception of the interest charge for the full year, which is now expected to be lower year on year due to lower expectations for RPI and LIBOR rates.

We continue to make very good progress on delivering efficiency savings across Severn Trent Water, and have made a good start to our AMP6 capital programme.

Prior technical guidance for the full year 2015/16 included:

· Wholesale Totex (total expenditure) is expected to be £1,030 million to £1,060 million, of which 34.7% will be capitalised onto the RCV.

· Operating costs under IFRS are expected to be lower year on year due to the impact of the organisational changes and the supply chain efficiencies already announced.

· We estimate net capital expenditure (cash) under IFRS will be £410 million to £430 million. In addition, we expect a further £125 million to £135 million of net infrastructure renewals expenditure, which will be charged to the income statement.

· In Business Services we continue to expect growth in revenues and PBIT year on year.

· The effective current tax rate for the group for 2015/16 is expected to be between 17% and 19%.

· The dividend is set to be 80.66p for 2015/16.

Severn Trent Plc will announce its Interim results for the period ending 30 September 2015 on 26 November 2015.

Some serious efficiency savings have seen profit rise on flat revenues at Severn Trent. Turnover at the FTSE 100-listed water utility was down marginally year-on-year, sitting at £896.1m (-0.2%), while profit before interest and tax was up 2.6% on an underlying basis to £281m.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5161402

Trading update http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5206080

Recommended Acquisition of Dee Valley Group Plc by Severn Trent Water Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Severn Trent Plc
Summary
· The Boards of Dee Valley and Severn Trent are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued voting and non-voting ordinary share capital of Dee Valley by Severn Trent Water.
· Under the terms of the Acquisition, Dee Valley Ordinary Voting Shareholders will receive 1,705 pence in cash per Dee Valley Ordinary Voting Share they hold. The Acquisition includes a comparable cash Offer for the Dee Valley Ordinary Non-Voting Shares priced at 1,601 per share, in accordance with Rule 14 of the Code. The Acquisition values the entire issued ordinary share capital of Dee Valley at approximately £78.5 million.
· Dee Valley is a natural fit for Severn Trent as it operates in neighbouring areas in England and Wales.
· Severn Trent intends to maintain a separate Welsh licence for Dee Valley and, subject to regulatory approval, intends that the whole of Severn Trent's business in Wales will be regulated under Welsh Government Policy.
· Severn Trent is one of the leading water companies and intends to enhance the current service offering for Dee Valley's customers, including by extending support for vulnerable customers. Dee Valley's customers will share in half of any wholesale cost efficiencies achieved, which will be reflected in future bills.
· Severn Trent is undertaking an over £3 billion investment programme in AMP6. Severn Trent intends to fully support continued investment in infrastructure in the Dee Valley region.
· Severn Trent is confident that, through the application of Severn Trent's successful operating model, economies of scale and lower cost of financing to the operations of Dee Valley, this will deliver attractive returns to Severn Trent shareholders. The Acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive from completion.
· The Dee Valley Board believes that the terms of the Acquisition are in the best interests of Dee Valley Ordinary Shareholders as a whole and intends to recommend unanimously that:
- Dee Valley Ordinary Voting Shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting which are to be convened to approve the Acquisition; and
- Dee Valley Ordinary Non-Voting Shareholders accept the Offer.
· The Offer is conditional on the Scheme becoming Effective. However, the Scheme is not conditional on the Offer becoming or being declared unconditional in all respects.
· The Dee Valley Board has withdrawn its recommendation of the acquisition by Ancala and proposes to adjourn the meetings in respect of Ancala's acquisition.

StockMarketWire.com
Dee Valley Group's board has withdrawn its recommendation of Ancala Fornia's offer and urged shareholders to accept a revised offer from Severn Trent.

Under the terms of the revised acquisition, Dee Valley ordinary voting shareholders will receive 1,825 pence in cash for each Dee Valley ordinary voting share. The revised acquisition includes a revised comparable cash offer for the Dee Valley ordinary non-voting shares priced at 1,713 pence per share.

It is intended that the revised acquisition of the Dee Valley ordinary voting shares will be implemented by means of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. The revised acquisition values the entire issued share capital of Dee Valley at approximately £84.0 million.

The Dee Valley board considers that the revised acquisition represents a superior offer in terms of financial value for holders of Dee Valley ordinary voting shares and non-voting shares as compared with the revised Ancala proposal.

The Dee Valley board intends to recommend unanimously that:
- all Dee Valley ordinary voting shareholders vote in favour of the revised scheme and all holders of non-voting shares accept the Revised Severn Trent contractual offer.

Severn Trent declared another chunky dividend and said it planned an enhanced payout next time after spying further efficiencies it can make for the year ahead. In the year to end-March, the water supplier increased turnover 3.7% to £1.8bn, underlying profit before interest and tax by 4.3% to £525m and underlying earnings per share by 19.9% to 122.4p. It proposed a final dividend of 48.90p that takes the annual payout to 81.50p, up 1% on the previous year.

Severn Trent sells North American business

Severn Trent has confirmed the the sale of its North American business (Operating Services, US) to US investors PPC Enterprises LLC and Alston Capital Partners LLC.

The sale valued the business at $62m. Proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes.

Severn Trent's North American business operated and managed water and wastewater systems, and provided management services to municipalities and local communities.

It operated in all aspects of the water and wastewater process including treatment, networks and customer service.

Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

StockMarketWire.com
Severn Trent's underlying profit before interest and tax (PBIT) increased by 4.4% to £287.8 million in the six months to 30 September, driven by the acquisition of Dee Valley, operating cost control and lower infrastructure spend.

Group turnover from continuing operations was £850.4 million, an increase of 3.7%, mainly due to allowed price increases in the Severn Trent Regulated Water and Waste Water business, the acquisition of Dee Valley and growth in both Business Services businesses.

There were exceptional gains of £8.3 million arising from a further pension increase exchange arrangement that has been agreed with the trustees of the Severn Trent Pension Scheme.

Reported group PBIT was £296.1 million, down slightly from £296.7 million the year before.

Net finance costs were £110.5 million (2016/17: £98.5 million) reflecting the impact of higher RPI, the effective cash cost of interest was around 20 basis points lower compared to the same period last year.

The company achieved a 38% reduction in internal sewer floodings and a 50% reduction in external floodings.

It is now generating the equivalent of 38% of energy needs from renewables and is on track for 50% by 2020.

Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent, said: "Our customer-first approach is delivering positive results. It is also clear in today's society that businesses, including the water sector, are under increasing scrutiny and greater pressure to explain their contribution to society beyond financial profit. We need to make sure our decisions strike the right balance between all of our stakeholders and show we run our business in a sustainable and responsible way."

Goldman Sachs today initiates coverage of Severn Trent PLC (LON:SVT) with a sell investment rating and price target of 1881p.

Trading Update for the period 1 October 2017 to 7 February 2018

Severn Trent, a leading UK water and waste water company, today provides its trading update.

Financial outlook: The Board continues to expect that the Group will deliver FY17/18 trading performance in line with its expectations and guidance previously disclosed at the HY17/18 results presentation on 23rd November 2017. We also reaffirm that at least £50 million customer ODI(1) outperformance payments are expected to be earned this year.

Delivering sustainable performance for all stakeholders:

AMP6(2): We are focused on providing benefits to our customers, communities, colleagues and investors, and we have generated sector-leading outperformance payments on key customer ODIs and continue to do well year-to-date.

We have positive momentum on Waste, particularly on internal and external sewer flooding, category 3 pollutions and serious pollution incidents. We re-confirm that we will hit the AMP6 outperformance cap(3). On Water, we have had more supply interruptions than normal in the last quarter, but are encouraged by the reduction in water quality complaints, which were down 12% year on year. We confirm that we expect to earn at least £50 million customer ODI(1) outperformance payments across Waste and Water this year.

We continue to work hard on improving our SIM(4) scores. We also note that we have one of the sector-leading scores in CCW's(5) independent annual survey on what our customers think.

We have delivered material reductions in our cost of finance. Since our HY17/18 results announcement, a £400m fixed-rate sterling bond with a coupon of 6% matured and was refinanced in part with a £250m five-year sterling bond with a coupon of 1.625%. We continue to explore varied sources of finance to help positon us as an upper-quartile performer in AMP7.

AMP7(2): Ofwat announced its PR19(6) Final Methodology in December 2017, providing welcome clarity on upcoming plans. We expected a tough review, recently restructuring our wholesale business to improve operational effectiveness and our customers' experience. We are encouraged by the enhanced incentive regime, creating strong outperformance opportunities. We are positioning ourselves for continued success in AMP7.

To assist AMP7 planning, we have launched our largest ever customer engagement programme, including a community panel of 10,000 customers, a review of two million customer contacts and analysis of over seven million social media conversations. This helps us understand the core service improvements and wider social and environmental initiatives our customers expect, thereby underpinning future growth in our RCV(7).

Corporate social responsibility: We are conscious of Severn Trent's role in society through the impact on our community, the wider environment, and the importance of workplace diversity. Our work in the community delivers benefits through our extensive customer education and employee volunteering programmes. We are keen to play our part in supporting social mobility and we have a highly-rated apprentice programme. We have reported a gender pay gap of 2.4% and, while we have even further to go, we have made strong progress in supporting workplace diversity and gender pay equality. We have a strong record of environmental performance and through our renewable energy business we are on track to generate the equivalent of 50% of our energy needs by 2020.