Some numbers;
- The Water Companies were privatised for £7.6bn. They had zero debt.
- Since 1989 they have paid £85.2bn to shareholders, and have debts of £56bn.
- 71% of those shares are foreign owned, mostly by hedge funds and investment houses.
- Each water company is now worth about 10 times what it was sold for – United Utilities alone is worth £7.7bn.
- Despite the outrage over sewage, nothing much has changed; in 2023 United Utilities paid out more to shareholders than it earned in profit, funded by debt.
It’s time for a change.