Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH MAY 2018 | 21 This week Anglian winding up offshore subsidiary Anglian shareholders agree closure of Cayman Islands subsidiary to improve transparency Anglian Water has requested permission from the Cayman Islands High Court to proceed with the removal of its Cayman Islands subsidiary. The move follows unanimous consent from its lenders for the subsidiary to be removed from the company's structure. Anglian announced the removal in March, as part of a wider transparency over- haul. It was eager to point out that its Cayman Islands subsidiary had "always been registered in the UK for tax purposes". The company said it had already made "significant progress" in improving the clarity of its financial structures, with the repayment of an intercompany loan in March. The changes are intended to simplify the presentation of Anglian Water's accounts and improve the transparency of its financial structure. The news follows challenges laid down by Ofwat's chairman, Jonson Cox, and environment secretary Michael Gove on 1 March at the annual Water UK City Conference. Anglian Water chief executive Peter Simpson said: "As a responsible business, I'm delighted with the speed at which we have been able to start to implement the initiatives we announced in March, and I'm grateful to our shareholders for their support in making these changes." Towards the end of last year, Yorkshire Water and Thames Water both vowed to close their Cayman Islands subsidiaries. LV ENERGY Scottish Power sees rise in profits Scottish Power has seen a rise in profit for the first three months of 2018 aer its generation and supply business rebounded from a poor performance in the same period last year. In a trading update, the company reported a 34 per cent increase in Ebitda to £466.5 million. Improved margins helped generation and supply boost Ebitda by 247 per cent year on year to £131.7 million. However, profit was still down on the £146 million it earned during the first quarter of 2016. The rebound came despite the loss of around 100,000 customer accounts, which le Scottish Power with roughly five million at the end of March. Earnings at Scottish Power Renewables were up 29 per cent at £127.7 million owing to favourable wind conditions and increased capacity. Its port- folio generated 1,684GWh of electricity over the quarter – a year-on-year increase of almost 23 per cent. Onshore generation grew by 32 per cent and offshore generation by 12 per cent. SP Energy Networks was the only one of the three businesses to see a fall in earnings, down 1.6 per cent to £207.1 million. Parent company Iberdrola reported a 24 per cent increase in Ebitda to €2.32 billion (£2.03 billion) and a 1.2 per cent rise in net profit to €838 million. WATER Water2business signs water retail deal with national care trust Water2business has won a three- year contract to provide water retail services to national care provider The Orders of St John Care Trust. The retailer has a long-term relationship with the trust and has been conducting water effi- ciency audits and tariff valida- tion for 18 homes, which it said had resulted in "considerable savings". The trust employs 4,000 staff and provides care to 3,500 resi- dents in 72 homes and as part of 16 housing schemes across Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, West Sussex and Suffolk. Andy Coates, business development manager at the utility company, said: "I am absolutely delighted that we are able to extend our support to The Orders of St John Care Trust for its entire portfolio. "We have delivered some fantastic efficiency work and savings in the past, and we now have the opportunity to build on this relationship further and support the entire trust." Offshore structures: public disquiet Stock watch 1,600 1,500 1,400 1,300 1,200 1,100 SSE SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY Aug 2017 Dec 2017 Apr 2018 SSE SHARE PRICE, ONE YEAR SSE's share price remained steady this week despite Ofgem deciding not to hold a mid-period review of the RIIO-ED1 price control for electricity distribution. The regulator had previously floated the possibility of resetting incentives and spending allowances as part of a review – an announcement which Western Power Distribution claimed wiped a fih off its market value. SSE owns fellow distribution network operator Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. 1,400 1,380 1,360 1,340 1,320 25 Apr 26 Apr 27 Apr 30 Apr 1 May Finance & Investment pence pence

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