Severn Trent
Indicated dividend this year 80.66p
The appeal to investors of our remaining privatised water companies is clear enough. Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, also has an unregulated waste treatment business that has caused problems in the past; the other two, Severn Trent and United Utilities, offer a safe and secure flow of earnings.
This is because the amount they are allowed to make is guaranteed by Ofwat, the industry regulator, and this has just been set for the next five years.
This allows about the best visibility of earnings and dividends on the stock market. It also makes the company attractive to overseas bidders, while most of the industry has been taken off the market and is in the hands of