BUSINESS LIVE: BT wants to boost free cash flow; EasyJet CEO leaves; United Utilities’ profits are falling

Beleaguered water utility United Utilities has missed market expectations for annual profits as higher consumer bills failed to offset sharp rises in costs as the group struggles to strengthen its environmental reputation.

However, expensive consumer bills caused annual sales to rise 8.1 percent to £1.95 billion.

The water supplier to north-west England reported adjusted operating profit of £517.8m for the year to the end of March, compared with analyst expectations of £522.2m.

United faced the wrath of consumers, politicians and regulators on Tuesday after it emerged the group was responsible for mMillions of liters of raw sewage are being illegally pumped into one of England’s most famous lakes.

According to the BBC, the country failed to stop illegal pollution at Windermere, in the Lake District, for 10 hours in February and only reported the incident to the Environment Agency 13 hours after it started.

An almost identical incident took place at the same location in 2022.

Anglo American is eyeing the rapid sale of its coking coal business as it tries to convince investors that the radical shake-up is working.

The London-listed mining giant, which rejected two bids from BHP worth £31 billion and £34 billion, this week unveiled plans to split the company to fend off takeover interests.

EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren will step down in early 2025, the budget airline said this morning, after reporting a bigger-than-expected loss in the first half of the year on Thursday ahead of a busy summer season.

Lundgren, who helped steer the airline out of pandemic debt and grow its vacation sector, will be succeeded by chief financial officer Kenton Jarvis.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of £350 million, higher than an expected loss of £340 million but lower than £392 million a year earlier.

“We are now absolutely focused on another record summer that is expected to deliver strong earnings growth for FY24 and is on track to achieve our medium-term objectives,” Lundgren said in a statement.

BT Group’s new CEO has laid out a plan to more than double free cash flow over the next five years, as the telecoms giant passes the peak of its investment in fiber networks.

Allison Kirkby, who previously led Sweden’s Telia, said BT would increase its dividend by 3.9 percent to 8p per share for the 2024 financial year after free cash flow exceeded expectations.

Some analysts had expected free cash flow to suffer over the period due to the huge spend on the rollout of BT’s full fiber network, possibly even forcing a dividend cut.

Although BT exceeded expectations in this regard, broadband line losses to competitors were worse than expected at 491,000 in the year to March 31, compared with 210,000 the year before.