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UTILITY WEEK | 31ST MARCH - 6TH APRIL 2017 | 15 Finance & Investment This week Affinity Water could fetch £2bn if sold Strategic review by shareholders could result in the sale of all or part of Affinity Water Affinity Water's shareholders have announced a strategic review of their investment in the company, which could result in a sale. Affinity is owned by a consortium of investors led by Infra capital Partners and North Haven Infrastructure Partners (formerly Morgan Stanley Infra- structure Partners). According to reports in the Sunday Times, the company could fetch as much as £2 billion. In a statement, an Affinity Water spokesperson said: "The ultimate shareholders of Affinity Water are under- taking a strategic review of their investment, which may lead to the sale of some or all of their interests in the company. There is no certainty that the strategic review will result in a sale. "Affinity Water and the company continue to operate in the ordinary course of business and there is no expec- tation that the strategic review or any resulting sale (if any) will result in any changes at an operational level at Affinity Water." Affinity provides 900 million litres of water a day to 3.6 million people in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bucking- hamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and London. It also supplies water to the Tendring peninsula in Essex and the Folkestone and Dover areas of Kent. Infracapital Partners owns a 35 per cent stake in Affinity Water, while North Haven Infrastructure Part- ners owns 40 per cent. Its other shareholders are Beryl Datura Investment (10 per cent), Veolia Water UK (10 per cent), and Partners Group (5 per cent). LV ELECTRICITY Statkraft sells stake in Dogger Bank Statkra has sold its 25 per cent stake in the Dogger Bank offshore wind project to SSE and Statoil. Both companies were already 25 per cent partners in the Forewind consortium developing the project and each now has an additional 12.5 per cent stake. RWE spin-off Innogy owns the remaining 25 per cent share. The 4.8GW North Sea development will comprise four offshore windfarms: Creyke Beck A and B and Teesside A and B, each with a capacity of 1.2GW. They were granted planning permission in 2015. In September, Statkra revealed it was considering quitting its offshore wind portfolio in the UK, with the exception of its 50 per cent stake in the 900MW Triton Knoll scheme, which it is developing with Innogy. ELECTRICITY Tidal energy boss calls for CfD clarity The chief executive of Atlantis Resources has called for more clarity around future contracts for difference (CfD) rounds. Tim Cornelius, who heads up the company behind the MeyGen tidal energy project, said that while "we can almost definitely count on a 2018 and 2019 option", investors are looking for more certainty about when the auctions will actually be open. Earlier this month, the gov- ernment confirmed the second CfD allocation with a total budget of £290 million will open on 3 April, aer it was delayed from last year. The government has previ- ously indicated it plans to hold three CfD auctions during this parliament, with a total budget of up to £730 million, but no future dates have been set. "If you knew exactly when a round would be, you would see more investment," insisted Cor- nelius. "It's as simple as that." WATER Jersey Water profits up 4.4% in 2016 Jersey Water has reported a rise in pre-tax profit of 4.4 per cent to £4.3 million for the year ended 31 December 2016. Revenue was up 2.3 per cent to £15.7 million. The company, which is 74 per cent owned by the States of Jersey, said the higher pre-tax profit was largely down to a 3.78 per cent increase in operat- ing profit to £5 million. During the year, it invested £4.6 million in capital projects, including refurbishment and extension of a desalination plant, mains and service renew- als, water quality enhancement projects and metering. Affinity: owned by a consortium of investors Stock watch 1050 1000 950 900 850 UNITED UTILITIES SHARE PRICE, ONE DAY May 16 Jul 16 Sep 16 Jan 17 Mar 17 UNITED UTILITIES SHARE PRICE, ONE YEAR United Utilities' stock price was largely undisturbed by the revelation in a trading update ahead of its full-year results that the opening of the water market cost the company £16 million in 2016/17. The water company said revenues will be lower than the previous year as a result, although it also expects underlying profits to be up slightly. Aer starting the day of the update at 1,011p, shares dipped slightly to 998p, but were back up to 1,003p by the time Utility Week went to press. 1015 1010 1005 1000 995 10:00 12:00 2:00 4:00 Nov 16