2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

UNITED KINGDOM PART 3 (ii): COMPANY ANALYSIS: LOCAL/REGIONAL PLAYERS
South Staffordshire Plc
South Staffordshire provides water to the English West Midlands, including Walsall and West
Bromwich. Sewerage services are provided by Severn Trent Plc. South Staffordshire Water Plc was
founded in 1853, but only floated in 1991, making the company a late entrant to the stock market
when compared with many of its peers. In April 2004, South Staffordshire Group was split into South
Staffordshire Plc (regulated and non-regulated water activities) and Homeserve Plc (other nonregulated
activities). In November 2004, the company was acquired by Arcapita Bank of Bahrain for
£143 million and was subsequently delisted.
South Staffordshire Plc, profit and loss account
Y/E 31/03 (£ million) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Water provision 58.37 59.13 58.84 60.43 61.81
Non-regulated activities 14.30 22.54 26.59 24.69 27.98
(Inter-segment turnover) -8.59 -13.47 -12.09 -12.29 -11.88
Group turnover 64.06 68.20 73.34 72.83 77.91
Operating profit 18.75 19.88 21.40 20.86 19.47
Pre-tax profit 17.69 18.86 16.78 14.52 12.99
Earnings per share (p) 99.4 121.1 97.5 83.1 91.2
Dividends per share (p) N/A N/A N/A 46.0 N/A
Non-regulated activities include: Integrated Water Services was formed after the acquisition of OnSite
from Homeserve in November 2004. OnSite provides water and wastewater services to utilities and
industrial clients. These include United Utilities, Thames Water, Scottish Water and Wessex Water
(YTL). In December 2000, OnSite gained a £20 million four year contract to provide wastewater
network services for half of Thames Water’s sewerage network. Echo’s RAPID customer
management software is a market leader in the UK, where it is used for 2.4 million customer accounts
by Wessex Water, South West Water (Pennon Group), Bristol Water and for 100,000 industrial
accounts for Hartlepool Water and Scottish Water. 90% of Echo’s revenues are from UK water
companies. Aqua Direct produces spring water for various retailers.
The company supplies 510,000 customers (1,233,000 people) in 510,000 properties, with 56,500
being connected to metered supplies, along with 38,000 commercial customers. The company’s
average bill of £86 per household is the second lowest in the UK private sector, and the company has
a policy of aggressively exceeding service and infrastructure targets set by Ofwat.
Contact Details
Name: South Staffordshire Plc
Address: Green Lane, Walsall,
West Midlands, WS2 7PD, UK
Tel: +44 1922 638 282
Fax: +44 1992 723 631
Web: www.south-staffordshire.com
Web: www.south-staffs-water.co.uk
David Sankey (Chairman)
Dr Jack Carnell (Managing Director, regulated activities)
Adrian Page (Group Finance Director)
359 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006