£500m windfall for AWG investors
EAST Anglian water company AWG is to hand a £500m cash windfall to shareholders following its financial rejig. The handout, equivalent to 177p a share, is bang in the middle of market expectations of between £400m and £600m.
Shareholders are expected to receive their cheques in October. The shares rose 6p to 483 1/2p.
The complex and costly restructuring leaves the core regulated water business Anglian Water Services as a ring-fenced, debt-financed subsidiary with £3.5bn of borrowings, including £1.76bn of bond finance raised earlier this month. The company said the new structure would improve 'operational and financial efficiency'.
Long-serving chairman Robin Gourlay is to retire in January. He is to be succeeded by deputy chairman Peter Hickson, the former Powergen finance director.
