THAMES Water has said that it could increase the salaries of company executives if restrictions are placed on bonuses.
The water company is facing imminent financial crisis with its net debts having grown to £15.8bn as of December–an increase of more than £1bn since that time in 2023.
While some creditors have already promised funding, the company sought to secure £3bn to avoid temporary nationalisation as a result of rising debts.
Court proceedings saw the first step in securing the funding on in December, when the court approved the funding from a minority of creditors.
Without it, Thames Water expected that it would face nationalisation as soon as March this year.
Despite this, the water company has threatened that if limits are placed on the amount it is able to give in bonuses to executives, it will increase salaries instead.
The Financial Times reported that Thames Water argued in internal documents December that restrictions would make it difficult to attract high-performers to the higher positions in the company.
While Ofwat is only currently able to force water companies to make shareholders cover the bill for bonuses, a bill is going through parliament which would give the regulator powers to block the giving of bonuses entirely.
The bill was first introduced by the Conservative government in 2023.
Thames Water is now expected to have a hearing in early February which will aim to secure approval from creditors as it seeks to pursue the next phase of its efforts to get an emergency loan worth £3bn.
