UPDATE: United Utilities completes GBP800 million equity raise

(Alliance News) - United Utilities PLC on Thursday afternoon announced the results of its placing, subscription and retail offer, which as expected raised approximately GBP800 million in total.

The Warrington, England-based water and wastewater utility said Deutsche Numis and JPMorgan Securities placed 60.6 million shares with existing institutional shareholders and other investors. The placing price was 1,312 pence per share, which was United Utilities' closing price on Wednesday.

Shares in the company were 3.2% lower at 1,410.50p on Friday morning in London.

United Utilities noted that as part of the placing, it received a "cornerstone commitment" from ATLAS Infrastructure With The Future Fund to invest GBP400 million.

At the same time, it said, eligible retail investors have subscribed for 381,000 shares, while multiple directors have subscribed for 15,335 shares, both at the placing price.

"We appreciate the strong support for this equity placing from new and existing shareholders, providing additional funds for the transformational investments we are making in the water and wastewater infrastructure of the North West," commented Chief Executive Louise Beardmore. "Backed by a strengthened investor base, we are now better positioned than ever to deliver sustained improvements for customers and the environment, while supporting economic growth and creating jobs for our region."

The fundraise shares represent approximately 8.9% of United Utilities' existing share capital, it said. Following the new shares' admission to trading, it said the total number of voting shares will be 742.9 million.

United Utilities had said it expected the new shares to comprise no more than 10% of the share capital, when it announced the fundraise earlier on Thursday.

It said at the time that the fundraise would support the equity component of a planned GBP2.5 billion increase in its investment programme for the AMP8 regulatory cycle, which covers financial 2025 to 2030.

United Utilities submitted its plan to UK regulator Ofwat on Thursday, and said it will increase its AMP8 capital investment programme to GBP11.5 billion.

It had also reported strong financial results for the year ended March 31, with pretax profit more than doubling to GBP779.0 million and revenue increasing 22% to GBP2.62 billion. Additionally, it forecast further revenue growth in the current year to between GBP2.7 billion and GBP2.8 billion.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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