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Severn Trent PLC on Wednesday said Chief Executive Liv Garfield is stepping down as it reported strong growth in half-year revenue and profit. The well regarded Garfield, who has served as CEO since 2014, will be replaced by James Jesic, currently capital & commercial services director at Severn Trent and managing director of Hafren Dyfrdwy. Jesic will take the helm at the start of 2026 when Garfield steps down. Garfield will remain with the business until the finalisation of the financial year ending March. ‘Having made a strong start to the largest ever investment programme, Liv and the board agree that this is the right time to transition to a new CEO,’ Severn Trent said in a statement. The firm said Jesic was an ‘exceptionally well-qualified internal successor to deliver the well-established plans for long-term and sustainable growth.’ Alexander Wheeler at RBC Capital Markets said that ‘Liv is held in very high regard in the market and a key reason Severn Trent have been such a strong performer,’ and her departure ‘will likely overhang the shares in the short term.’ Shares in Severn Trent fell 0.4% to 2,702.00 pence each in London on Wednesday. The news came as the Coventry, England-based water supplier said pretax profit jumped 60% to £307.8 million in the six months to September 30 from £192.3 million the year prior. Pretax profit before interest rose 57% to £466.2 million from £297.8 million, while turnover grew 18% to £1.44 billion from £1.22 billion. Sales growth was driven by higher revenue in the Regulated Water & Wastewater business due to price increases and higher consumption over the dry summer. Profit benefited from the increased sales, while higher operating costs were partly mitigated by lower energy prices and reductions in infrastructure renewals. CEO Garfield said: ‘The next five years will be a period of exceptional growth for Severn Trent. We have made a strong start to our largest-ever investment programme, frontloading our investments to deliver faster for customers.’ Severn Trent upgraded outcome delivery guidance for financial 2026 to at least £40 million from at least £25 million before, driven by strong performance in reducing leakage, storm overflow spills and pollutions. In addition, the company gave an improved outlook on operating costs and infrastructure renewals expenditure in financial 2026, now expecting 5% to 8% year-on-year increase from up to 12% higher before. Net finance costs are expected to be 25% to 30% higher, up from 20% to 25% before, due to higher inflation. The firm expects a regulatory return of around 13% this financial year. Severn Trent reiterated its outlook of doubling adjusted EPS in the three-year period to financial 2028 from 112.1p in financial year and said regulated gearing is expected to be 60% to 65% at financial 2030, based on forecast regulatory asset base of £21.9 billion. Severn Trent said its balance sheet ‘remains strong’. At September 30, adjusted net debt was £9.15 billion, up from £8.55 billion a year ago, although regulated gearing dropped to 61.5% from 62.7%. The interim dividend was increased by 3.5% to 50.40p per share from 48.68p. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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