Thames Water is planning to pay out £2bn in dividends over the next decade despite growing fears over the company's collapse, The Telegraph can reveal.
In a revised business plan submitted to regulator Ofwat, bosses of the troubled supplier said they intended to keep rewarding shareholders even as financial pressures push it closer to bankruptcy.
According to figures buried in a spreadsheet containing more than 100 tables, Thames Water plans to pay around £2bn in dividends between now and 2035 - consisting of payouts of up to £290m a year.
This also includes around £860m in dividends between next year and 2030. Shareholders had pledged to invest more than the £750m by 2025
before they cut off funding last month.