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UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH JULY 2015 | 13 Finance & Investment Stock watch 12.4 12.2 12.0 11.8 EON SHARE PRICE, 1 - 6 JULY 20.5 20.0 19.5 19.0 RWE SHARE PRICE, 1 - 6 JULY 1 Jul 2 Jul 3 Jul 6 Jul The share prices of RWE and Eon climbed by between 3 and 6 per cent to €20.57 and €12.43 respectively after news that the German government scrapped plans for a carbon levy in favour of a coal-plant reserve scheme. However, the German government's decision in a white paper published on Friday 3 July not to include a capacity market in future plans caused prices to reverse the previous gains. This week SWW profits boosted by new connections Extra 7,600 customers help South West Water to grow its pre-tax profit by £5.4 million in 2014/15 The addition of 7,600 customers helped South West Water to grow its profit by £5.4 million in 2014/15, the company's annual report has revealed. South West Water posted an increase in its pre-tax profit of 3.3 per cent to £167.9 million, up from £162.5 million, because the impact of a tariff price freeze was more than offset by an increase in new connections and cost efficiencies. Total revenue for the water company also grew by 0.4 per cent, reaching £522.2 million for the year, up from £520 million. The new customers contributed £2.8 million to revenue. Further cost efficiencies and lower debt costs more than offset the £4.8 million loss in revenue that occurred from customers switching to meters or assessed charging. South West Water chief executive Chris Loughlin said the company was "well placed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the next regulatory period" but said he recognised "there are improvements still to be made". He said South West Water was making a "smooth and confident transition" into the next regulatory price con- trol period. Chairman of parent company Pennon, Ken Harvey, added that being awarded enhanced status by Ofwat during the PR14 process would "lead to a tangible financial benefit" for the company over the next five years as it had been able to start its AMP6 work early. Pennon saw its pre-tax profit increase by 1.6 per cent, up to £210.7 million. This includes £27.7 million of pre- tax profit made by recycling company Viridor. MB ELECTRICITY Energy storage a 'friend' to DNOs Energy storage technology is a "friend of the network operator and utilities" because it reduces peak and imbalance charges, Simon Daniel, chief executive of smart tech firm Moixa, has said. Speaking to Utility Week, Daniel said storage was at the "epicentre" of the shi from cen- tralised power sources to grid- edge, distributed and decentral- ised power. He said: "Because of the long tail of energy genera- tion, including a lot more wind, solar, fuel cell, and end-user demand response, storage is seen as a way which helps the user but, more particularly, helps the network operator. "There's little point in pro- ducing excess energy in the mid- dle of the day which is wasted for the grid, when actually that energy is needed in the evening," he added. "The only way to make solar pay... is to have storage or a good system for managing it." See storage analysis, p24 GAS GDNs 'must share innovation learning' Gas distribution networks (GDNs) must share learning from innovation projects with one another to avoid duplication of research, National Grid has advised. Speaking at a Utility Week conference, National Grid Gas Distribution business change specialist Robert Cairns said: "We should be sharing the learn- ing, not just with National Grid, but with the other GDNs as well." He said doubling up on research would ultimately increase consumer bills. "Ofgem has allocated spend to us to innovate and it's very important that we don't all pick up one project in one area and start innovating in that area, this is going to be a waste of the con- sumer's money. So [GDNs] must all share their learning." WATER Severn Trent completes sale of purification interest Severn Trent has completed the sale of its water purification arm to its joint venture partner Industrie De Nora. The £62 million deal, announced in May, sees the group's £50.8 million share set- tled through a cash payment of £12.6 million and the settlement of net inter-company debt. When the sale was announced, Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield said: "This sale will allow us to focus on our core water and wastewater service businesses in the UK and abroad. "It's the right time for it to have a new owner." Road to profit: service to 7,600 more customers 1 Jul 2 Jul 3 Jul 6 Jul