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Rates fuelling discounts on house prices LAURA MCGUIRE
FOR ONCE, THAMES WATER DOESN’T LEAK EMBATTLED UTILITIES CEO QUITS WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT – AND FIRM REFUSES TO SAY WHY
NICHOLAS EARL THAMES WATER boss Sarah Bentley sensationally stepped down from her role as chief executive yesterday, with the firm refusing to offer any explanation for her sudden departure. It marks the end of a controversial threeyear tenure, in which she took home nearly £5m in salaries and bonuses despite scandal after scandal rocking the UK’s largest water supplier. The firm has been criticised for an almost constant stream of raw sewage overflows
into lakes and rivers, constant leakages, and extensive investigations from the regulators over its poor performance. Recent data suggests leakage rates are now at its highest levels since 2018, and Thames Water pumped undiluted raw sewage into waterways more than 8,000 times in 2022. The swift exit comes just weeks after Bentley announced she would give up her bonus for the 2022/23 financial year amid criticism of the company’s
sewage issues –though she saw her base pay doubled for the same period. When pressed, Thames Water did not deny she would receive a pay-off, only saying an announcement would come “in due course”. Bentley, who was at the helm of the firm when Ofwat and the Environment Agency launched enforcement action against Thames Water, said: “It has been an honour to take on such a significant challenge. “The foundations of the
turnaround that we have laid position the company for future success.” The leadership vacuum is being filled on an interim basis by finance chief Alastair Cochran and strategy director Cathryn Ross as the company searches for a replacement. Whoever inherits the role will also find themselves underneath a debt pile of around £14bn. Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP urged for this to be a “watershed moment for the scandalriddencompany” and called for ministers to “reform the firm from top to bottom”.
RED HOT mortgage rates are leading to sellers accepting lower prices for their properties and creating further pain for the housing sector, fresh data shows. As the market grapples with the Bank of England’s 13th straight rate hike, figures by estate agent Zoopla show that 42 per cent of sellers are accepting discounts over five per cent on the asking price to secure a sale – the biggest discount recorded by the estate agent since 2018. Meanwhile, 15 per cent of property sellers are knocking over 10 per cent off initial asking prices. It comes as sky-high interest rates on mortgages erode buyers’ purchasing power, with Zoopla reporting a 14 per cent fall in buyers in the market over the last four weeks compared to a year ago. The average rate for a five year fixed term mortgage now sits at 5.83 per cent, up from 5.17 per cent since the start of June, according to Moneyfacts. “Our view remains that five per cent mortgage rates represent a tipping point, beyond which house prices will post annual price falls with lower sales volumes,” Zoopla said in the report. “The sales momentum over [the first half of 2023] is not going to be maintained into [the second half].”
Wise shares rocket as rising interest rates push profits up over 200 per cent CHARLIE CONCHIE SHARES in money transfer Wise surged over 16 per cent yesterday after the firm posted a 234 per cent boost in profits over the past year on the back of rising interest rates. In its full year results yesterday, the London-listed fintech firm said
profits had surged from £43.9m in 2022 year to £146.5m in 2023. Wise felt the lift of interest income on its customer balance’s throughout the year as central bankers hiked rates to tame inflation. The firm said its net interest income has rocketed to £118.1m in the year up from a £2.8m
loss in the previous year. Boss Kristo Kaarmann said it was an “exceptional set of financials” for the firm on the back of “customer growth combined with some specific tailwinds from interest”. “Our strong growth and continued profitability are a direct result of our focus on our mission
and our customers,” Kaarmann said. Finance chief Matt Briers said the firm would use interest income to “power further profitable growth” by investing the cash in the Wise Account proposition. The firm said 10m customers had chosen to move and manage their cash with Wise, an increase of 34
per cent year-on-year, while the amount of cash pinged around the world rose 37 per cent. The results come after a troubling year for the firm in which its chief Kristo Kaarmann was embroiled in a tax scandal and faced a probe from the regulator over a bill dating back to 2017.
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