How much money does Severn Trent pay to shareholders?

New analysis has revealed how much money water companies are paying out to shareholders.

The data, produced by the University of Greenwich, shows that nine water and sewage companies in England alone have paid out billions of pounds to shareholders since 2010. In total shareholders have made a total of £18.9 billion in dividends since 2010 – an annual average of £1.6 billion.

Last year an estimated £531 million was funnelled to shareholders. They expect the current total of £0.5 billion for 2021 to climb “significantly higher” when final reports are published. This does not include the companies that just supply drinking water, without handling sewage.

What does the data show for Severn Trent?

According to the data, which you can see in the table below - since 2010, Severn Trent has paid out an annual average of £223 million to its shareholders.

Anglian Water paid out the highest annual average with £557 million per year, followed by United Utilities with £284 million and Severn Trent with £223 million. You can use the interactive chart above to see how much your local water company paid out in dividends to shareholders.

Responsding to the figures, a spokesman for Severn Trent, said: “We have a clear dividend policy and can only pay a dividend if we have sufficient distributable profits and despite challenging circumstances, we have delivered excellent operational performance this year that enabled resilient financial results.

“Our resilient financial position and strong financial performance this year were factors in our decision to declare a final dividend in line with our AMP7 dividend policy of growth of at least CPIH per annum.

“We recognise the critical role that dividends play in providing necessary income for pensioners and savers, and the significant number of employee and former employee investors we have. The vast majority of our shareholders are retail shareholders, including pensioners who are grappling with the same cost of living pressures. The regulatory model we operate under is inflation linked, which helps us to maintain returns and dividends in real terms.”

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