Pennon Group CEO Donates Bonus and Long-term Award to Support Customers
In light of the ongoing scrutiny of the water industry’s performance, Pennon Group’s CEO, Susan Davy, has decided to forego her annual bonus and donate her long-term award to the company’s WaterShare+ scheme. This decision, according to Davy, is “the right thing to do” in light of the media and regulatory attention on executive remuneration.
The company’s annual report, released today, shows that Davy’s total package for the 2023/24 financial year increased to £860,000 from £543,000 in the previous year. While her salary saw a modest increase to £492,000, Davy has chosen not to accept a bonus for the second consecutive year, as well as forgo her 2020 long-term award.
Instead, the report states that the £298,000 from Davy’s long-term award will be redirected to the WaterShare+ scheme, which directly benefits customers through discounts on their bills or ownership of Pennon shares.
This announcement comes just weeks after Pennon reported an 8.6% increase in underlying operating profits to £166.3m for the 2023/24 financial year. However, the company also faced a £2.4m fine for multiple pollution incidents during this period, resulting in a 3.8% increase in dividend payments to shareholders.
At the same time, Pennon’s South West Water division was dealing with a public health emergency. A recent outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in the Brixham area of Devon led to approximately 17,000 households being advised to boil their drinking water. The contamination, believed to be linked to cow dung, left hundreds of people ill and a few thousand customers are still under a “boil water notice”. As a result, Pennon has agreed to compensate affected customers with a total of £3.5m.
In addition to these updates, Pennon announced that David Sproul will be taking over as chairman after Gill Rider’s departure at the company’s annual general meeting in July.
Overall, this news demonstrates Pennon’s commitment to its customers and responsible business practices, as well as its efforts to address the challenges facing the water industry.