Utilities giant made £72m loss after hit from water bug and restructure

THE Exeter-based owner of South West Water has made a £72.7m loss after a water bug made hundreds of people ill in Devon last year.

- by WILLIAM TELFORD

Pennon Group Ltd saw losses widen from the £9.1m loss it made in 2025.

The utilities giant put the blame for the size of the loss on having to deal with the Cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham in 2024, which left more than 100 people saying they were ill and some even going to hospital, and said the cost of “interventions to return quality supplies” cost it about £21m. It also said a company restructure cost it about £16.6m.

But the company, in its annual results for the year to the end of March 2025, said it expects to return to profitability in 2025/26 through increased revenue and a “reset of our cost base”. It also highlighted investment plans of £3.2bn.

South West Water customers saw bills jump by 28% on average from April, while bills for Bristol Water and Sutton and East Surrey (SES) customers, both companies also owned by Pennon, are going up by 5% and 3%, respectively.