Severn Trent: Proactive behaviour pays off

Research evidence excerpt

Severn Trent: Proactive behaviour pays off

Equity Research

European Utilities & Clean Energy

8 July 2026

Severn Trent

Proactive behaviour pays off

First LookOfwat accepted SVT's undertakings in response to the 2021

investigation with no financial penalty, closing a key

overhang. SVT appears best-in-class, having proactively SVT.L/SVT LN EQUAL WEIGHT European Utilities & Clean

Energyidentified issues & invested £98m in remediation before the POSITIVE

Price Target GBp 3385

enforcement case. UU conclusion remains. EA probe still Price (07-Jul-26) GBp 2998

ongoing. Potential Upside/Downside +12.9%

Source: Bloomberg, Barclays Research

Ofwat accepts SVT undertakings, no financial penalty imposed: This morning, Ofwat

European Utilities & Clean Energyofficially accepted an enforcement package of undertakings from SVT. The water and

Dominic Nash, PhD

wastewater company promised to address the non-compliance Ofwat identified as part of a

+44 (0)20 3134 2364

sector-wide wastewater investigation the regulator launched in 2021. Ofwat does not expect dominic.nash@barclays.com

further redress to be required. Barclays, UK

SVT appears best-in-class relative to preceding cases: SVT proactively identified problems in Laura Marconi

its own network and began putting them right before Ofwat opened an enforcement case +44 (0)20 3555 0762

laura.marconi@barclays.comagainst the company in July 2024. The company's shareholders have already invested £98m in

Barclays, UK

direct infrastructure improvements as the company acted on its obligations. This investment is

historic and was already included in SVT's totex numbers, meaning their past underlying Peter Crampton

performance would have been £98m better than perceived. The £98m investment spans: +44 (0)20 3555 0125

peter.crampton2@barclays.com