Trading on course at UK’s Pennon despite weather
BRITISH water and waste company Pennon said the severe winter weather hurt operations at both of its units, though said trading since October had been in line with its expectations.
Britain was hit by an unusually hard winter, with one of the coldest Decembers on record.
Pennon – which supplies customers in Devon and Cornwall via South West Water – yesterday said while the cold weather led to a surge in burst pipes, this would not materially impact results.
The weather also hurt operations at its waste management unit, Viridor, but the company expects the unit to report a higher pre-tax profit for 2010.
Analysts currently expect the company to report a full-year pre-tax profit of £175.9m, on revenue of £1.11bn.
Pennon’s statement follows bullish announcements by Britain’s largest listed water utility, United Utilities, and Northumbrian Water Group.