Severn Trent Water leak prevention spend sees profits fall

Severn Trent Water has reported a 1% fall in profits which it said was due to more spending to help prevent leaks.

Customer complaints rose by 16% during the cold snap last year due to burst pipes.

The firm, which supplies eight million customers in the Midlands and Wales, said in 2010 it would invest 拢2.5bn in infrastructure by 2015.

Its investment has resulted in a slight fall in profit and offset by a 4.7% customer price rise, it said.

Chief executive Tony Wray said: "We remain focused on improving services from our networks."

He said work was being carried out to improve its service reliability and to increase water supply.

"We are maintaining our leakage activity levels following the severity of the last three winters," he added.