Interim Management Statement

Northumbrian Water Group PLC 06 February 2008 6 February 2008 Northumbrian Water Group plc ("the Company") Interim Management Statement The Company is today publishing its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 October 2007 to 5 February 2008. The Board confirms that trading has been in line with expectations and that there have been no material events or transactions during the period. Operating costs continue to be a key focus for the business and we expect to outperform the Ofwat efficiency target for 2007/08. However, as reported previously, rising energy prices for 2008/09 will largely remove the benefit of lower energy costs experienced in the current year. Capital investment is continuing to plan with further investment to reduce the risk of sewer flooding and improving water quality. For the regulated business, forecast capital investment by 2007/08 on a cumulative basis continues to be in line with the capital programme approved by Ofwat for the period from 2005 to 2010. Gearing levels remain unchanged with net debt approaching £2.2bn by March 2008. We published our Strategic Direction Statements entitled 'Looking to the Future' on 28 November 2007. Separate statements were published for our northern and southern operating areas. These are available on our websites (www.nwl.co.uk/ www.eswater.co.uk). Later this month, we have arranged multi-stakeholder seminars in both of our operating areas to discuss these documents and their impact. Our water resource position remains strong with combined storage at our Abberton and Hanningfield reservoirs in Essex currently above the long term average. The planning application to increase the capacity of Abberton was submitted on 14 December and a decision from the local planning authorities is expected by early summer 2008. Ofwat published its methodology consultation paper for the next Price Review in October 2007. It proposes a number of significant changes and our response to Ofwat is available on our websites. Outlook The Group continues to deliver good performance and we are confident of meeting our regulatory outputs for the year whilst maintaining good customer levels of service. The preliminary results for the year ending 31 March 2008 will be announced on 4 June 2008. For further information contact: Northumbrian Water 0191 301 6419 John Cuthbert, Managing Director Chris Green, Finance Director Alistair Baker, Communications & PR Manager Pelham PR 020 7743 6679 James Henderson Chelsea Hayes Archie Berens Note: Information in this announcement is based upon unaudited management accounts. This announcement includes certain forward looking statements which are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or accounting standard, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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