LONDON (Reuters) - British water utility Severn Trent is trading in line with expectations and is on track to offer shareholders a 5.6 percent rise in dividend payments this financial year, the company said on Wednesday.
Severn Trent said operating costs would rise this year because of inflation, taxes and power costs, but its full-year net capital expenditure would be in line with expectations at between 510 million pounds and 530 million pounds.
The company, the tariffs of which are capped by regulator Ofwat, also said that customer bills rose by less than inflation over the first quarter of its financial the year but warned that consumption is expected to drop year on year.
Severn Trent expects to pay a 84.9 pence dividend to shareholders in its 2014/15 financial year.
(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by David Goodman)