Thames Water raked in profits of more than £500million over the summer even as leakage levels rose to nearly 600m litres a day.
The increase in leaks was blamed on hot weather and dry ground, which resulted in a 38 per cent increase in burst water mains.
But customers were being asked not to water their gardens as Thames – which serves 15m customers – imposed a hosepipe ban which only ended late last month.
Excuses: Thames Water Chief exec Sarah Bentley (pictured) blamed the increase in leaks on hot weather which resulted in a 38% increase in burst water mains
Revenues rose 3 per cent to £1.1billion as tariffs charged to customers’ water bills rose.
Underlying profits, squeezed by soaring energy, wage and chemical costs as well as having to fix problems caused by the drought, slid by 6 per cent to £556million.
Chief executive Sarah Bentley said: ‘The recent drought affected progress on water metrics following a spike in leakage caused by exceptional dry ground conditions.’
Chairman Ian Marchant said it had been ‘one of the worst droughts on record’. The results showed leakage rose to 593.5m litres a day on average, up from 577.6m a year ago.
A measure of supply interruptions on average per property climbed to 6 mins and 57 seconds, nearly twice the rate in summer 2021.
Thames Water said it fixed more than 30,700 leaks over the period, up from 29,095.
But Bentley said: ‘Our leakage target is going to be really challenging to achieve this year.’
A consumer group representing water users said the figures risked fuelling resentment.
Karen Gibbs, senior leader for the environment at the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), said: ‘It’s imperative Thames Water and other companies accelerate their responsiveness to visible leaks and also make sure customers are kept well-informed on what they’re doing all year round to curb leakage – not just during a hot summer.’
The company, which is owned by a consortium including Canadian, British, Middle Eastern and Chinese investors, supplies drinking water to 10m customers and treats the waste water of 15m customers.
It covers the Thames region, from parts of Gloucestershire in the west to London and areas of Kent and Essex in the south east.
Thames said it was making ‘good progress’ in restoring its fortunes. Bentley said: ‘The difficult external environment has increased the challenge of our turnaround. However, we’ve still delivered solid financial results and continued to ramp up the investment in our network.’
Thames said it had seen a 43 per cent reduction in complaints and a 60 per cent fall in sewer flooding incidents.
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