From Yahoo Finance: 2025-05-20 06:16:00

Thames Water chair Sir Adrian Montague faced questions over bonuses paid to senior bosses from a £3bn loan. The bonuses, up to 50% of salary, were said to be insisted upon by creditors for staff retention. Sources suggest executives, not creditors, pushed for the bonuses. Montague won’t receive them.

Thames Water, facing financial struggles, sought a loan to avoid running out of money. The 9.75% interest rate loan raised concerns, leading to the potential blocking of bonuses under new government rules. The company’s record sewage spills and heavy debt put it at risk of being renationalized.

Environment secretary Steve Reed stated that profiting from failure must end. Thames Water argues the bonuses are retention payments, not performance-related, but ministers are prepared to block them. A consultation on new bonus rules is ongoing, with hopes of implementation by June. The company is in talks with private equity group KKR for a potential purchase.

Read more: Thames Water chair could face questions after comments to MPs on bonuses