(Bloomberg) — The UK’s embattled water companies are returning to the euro bond market to fund their massive investment needs.
Severn Trent Utilities Finance Plc is looking to raise €500 million ($543 million) from a 10-year sustainability bond on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak about it. The utility company has no outstanding euro debt currently, after a previous bond in the common currency matured in 2016.
It also comes after United Utilities Water Finance Plc earlier this month sold its first publicly-syndicated bond in euros in nearly two decades. That deal attracted more than €2.5 billion of investor orders for a €650 million bond, according to people familiar. UK water utilities have typically favored sterling debt, with around £40 billion ($50.7 billion) of sterling-denominated bonds outstanding at the moment, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tapping the euro market gives them access to a new and broader investor base.
The industry is under-pressure to raise funds amid mounting calls from the public and politicians to clean up UK waterways, and as some of the biggest suppliers face soaring debt loads. Companies plan to spend £96 billion on water and sewage infrastructure between 2025 and 2030, a 90% increase on the current period, according to industry body Water UK. That will be used to reduce sewage overflows into rivers and the sea, cut pipe leaks and build new reservoirs.
The UK’s biggest supplier, Thames Water, has become the poster child of poor performance, with more than £16 billion of debt, regular sewage overflows and the prospect of possible fines. At the same time, it desperately needs to finance its £18.7 billion turnaround plan.
Creditsights analysts Andrew Moulder and Bozhidar Dinkov expect Severn Trent and United Utilities to outperform many of their peers, even in the event that the situation at Thames Water deteriorates and ramps up uncertainty within the whole UK water sector.
“United Utilities and Severn Trent are what water companies should be — low risk, geared around the regulatory assumptions and with relatively simple capital structures,” they said in a note, initiating coverage on the two companies as market perform.
Thames Water’s Future Hangs on Ruling Over Investor Payouts
Severn Trent is offering investors a spread of around 150 basis points over mid-swaps at initial price discussions in a deal managed by Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA and SMBC.
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