GROUP profits at Severn Trent Water are up, to £267 million - a rise of 0.4 per cent - the company’s interim financial results show.

The half-yearly figures cover the period to September 30 this year. Turnover is also up, by 0.5 per cent, to £922 million.

The company said it achieved the results despite rising power costs and delivering service improvements. Turnover and group profits were said to be in line with expectations.

Severn Trent said it had maintained the lowest average combined water and sewerage bills in England and Wales for its domestic customers, adding price rises had been kept to below inflation during the current year.

The company announced in September that it would not be passing on up to an estimated £41 million cost for the transfer of private sewers to customers and said it had already invested £91 million of the additional £150 million of investment it pledged back in May, 2012 on service improvements.

The benefits of the new investment had already been seen, it added, with a 31 per cent reduction in sewer flooding incidents, a 41 per cent reduction in the duration of water supply interruptions and serious pollution incidents down by 33 per cent.

Severn Trent also said it had seen an improvement in customer satisfaction, with a reducing number of complaints.

For customers struggling to pay their bills, the company said it offered “a wide range of social tariffs”, with a further £3 million donated to the Severn Trent Trust Fund this year.

Severn Trent will submit its business plan to regulator Ofwat on Monday, December 2 after an 18-month customer and stakeholder engagement programme.

Tony Wray, chief executive of Severn Trent PLC, said: “We have again delivered on our commitments to customers, with lower bills and higher levels of service.

“We recognise that many customers are facing higher costs of living, so our aim is to keep bills as low as possible and to help those who struggle to pay with a wide range of social tariffs.”