2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

UNITED KINGDOM PART 3 (i): COMPANY ANALYSIS: MAJOR PLAYERS
Biwater Plc / Cascal NV
Biwater was founded in 1968, providing water purification hardware to swimming pools. During the
1970s, Biwater moved into sewerage hardware and developed a number of export markets. In 1986,
Biwater gained a major 5 year O&M contract following a US$ 1 billion construction contract with the
Malaysian Rural Water Supply Scheme. In 1989 they acquired Bournemouth & West Hampshire
Water Plc. Biwater is a privately owned company, specialising in water treatment and sewerage
engineering.
Biwater became a Plc in 1997 and Biwater Capital Plc was set up in 1998 for international concession
contracts. The company has been seeking bids in most of the currently active international markets,
with a balance between wastewater and water provision. Biwater has also been bidding in central and
eastern Europe, and in Bartoszoye (North Poland), Calafat (Romania) and Haskovo (Bulgaria) it has
gained contracts for constructing wastewater treatment works. Other construction and management
contracts have been gained in Nigeria (Guinness), and in five Central American countries.
Biwater Plc, profit and loss account
YE 31/03 (£ million) 2004 2005
Turnover 185.3 192.4
Share of joint ventures (24.2) (27.1)
Group turnover 161.1 165.3
Operating profit 2.8 4.8
Pre-tax profit 0.1 5.6
In March 2000, Nuon of the Netherlands acquired a 50% stake in Biwater Capital BV, now rebranded
as Cascal. Cascal is the operations and investments arm of Biwater Plc. Nuon paid US$130 million
for its holding in the joint venture (see separate company entry.)
Cascal BV, profit and loss account
YE 31/03 (US$ million) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Water supply turnover 53.8 61.4 69.0 80.5 91.7
Water contracting turnover 11.1 11.2 8.1 7.1 9.7
Group turnover 64.9 72.6 77.1 87.6 101.4
Operating profit 10.2 13.0 15.4 22.9 26.9
Pre-tax profit 10.3 9.5 11.0 20.1 26.1
Biwater/Cascal, number of people served internationally
Country Water Sewerage Total
Indonesia 690,000 0 690,000
UK 426,000 0 426,000
Chile 9,000 419,000 419,000
Philippines 370,000 370,000 370,000
South Africa 360,000 0 360,000
Belize 150,000 0 150,000
Mexico 0 80,000 80,000
Kazakhstan 30,000 20,000 30,000
Panama 370,000 0 370,000
Grand Total 2,305,000 889,000 2,895,000
The Panama contract is directly held by Biwater and is not part of Cascal.
UK
Biwater was the first company to acquire a SWC, East Worcester Water, in 1988. This was sold to
Severn Trent in 1992. Bournemouth Water (founded in 1863) and West Hampshire Water (founded in
1893) were both acquired in 1989 and merged in 1993. The company has 192,800 connections,
serving 426,000 people, rising to 500,000 in the summer. These activities have formed the backbone
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Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006