London, April 30, 2026, 14:02 (BST)
United Utilities Group PLC shares hit a record high on Thursday after the water supplier set out an £800 million equity raise, a share sale, and lifted its 2025-30 capital investment plan to about £11.5 billion from about £9 billion. The company said the bigger programme would help fund water and wastewater infrastructure across north-west England, including work tied to housing, data centres and clean energy.
A share sale often weighs on a stock because it dilutes existing holders. This time the market treated it more as a funding answer to a regulated growth plan, with Jefferies analyst Ahmed Farman writing that “the higher growth, coming with a robust balance sheet” was positive for United Utilities and the broader water sector. Reuters
The backdrop is still uncomfortable. Ofwat is the economic regulator for water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, and Britain’s water sector remains under pressure after years of scrutiny of pollution, dividends and the finances of Thames Water, the country’s largest supplier.
United Utilities said the step-up sits inside AMP8, the five-year regulatory period running to March 2030. It submitted about £1.4 billion of incremental investment to Ofwat on Thursday and expects a further roughly £1.2 billion of submissions in 2027 and 2028, taking total incremental investment to about £2.5 billion.
By early afternoon in London, United Utilities shares were up 11.62% at 1,464.50 pence. Pennon rose 7.07% and Severn Trent gained 8.01%, a sign the update lifted sentiment across listed UK water utilities, not just one company.
Chief Executive Louise Beardmore said the “BIG North West upgrade is now well underway” and pointed to more than 1,000 live projects across the region, backed by over 100 supply-chain partners. The company also cited progress on storm overflow spills and sewer flooding, two measures watched closely by regulators and customers. Investegate
The annual numbers gave the raise some cover. In preliminary unaudited results for the year to March 31, underlying revenue, which strips out items the company does not treat as normal performance, rose 20.1% to £2.576 billion; underlying operating profit rose 34.8% to £1.060 billion, while reported pretax profit more than doubled to £779 million.
The 2026 “re-opener” package — a regulatory route to seek approval for extra spending — includes about £770 million for growth projects such as data-centre water infrastructure in East Manchester, non-potable supply to the Ellesmere Port clean energy cluster and wastewater upgrades to support 66,000 homes. A further £410 million targets asset replacement, while about £190 million covers Windermere schemes and strategic water resources.
Bookrunner updates showed United Utilities planned to sell around 9% of its shares at 1,279 pence to 1,312 pence each, Reuters reported, implying a discount of as much as 2.5% to Wednesday’s close. The company also forecast 2026/27 underlying revenue of £2.7 billion to £2.8 billion, compared with £2.58 billion in the year just ended.
For the next financial year, United Utilities guided to capital spending of about £2 billion and growth of about 10% in its asset base, the regulated value of its network and other assets, assuming CPIH inflation of 3.6%. CPIH is the UK consumer price index that includes owner-occupier housing costs; the company said its dividend would keep growing in line with that measure, resulting in 55.54 pence per share.
The risk is that Ofwat, not the market, gets the last word. Draft decisions on the 2026 submission are due on Aug. 15, with final decisions set for Dec. 15; United Utilities also expects a customer outcome-delivery-incentive penalty in 2026/27, a regulator-linked charge tied to service targets. A tougher cost ruling, delayed projects or weaker performance would make the bigger programme a heavier test of margins and trust.
