THAMES Water reported upbeat results but gave cautious responses to regulator Ofwat's recent proposals for cuts of 10-12 per cent in customers' bills.

While not openly arguing against the Ofwat proposals, Thames Water said it would work privately with the regulator "to secure a balanced outcome."

It unveiled pre-tax profits in the six months to September 30 of £214.2m - up from £202m this time last year and ahead of analysts' expectations.

Turnover was £653.4m, down from £698.1m last time as a result of construction work at its international division. The company's utility business and its non-regulated operations performed strongly.

The utility operations saw reduced levels of water put into supply as a result of the wetter weather, water conservation and improved leakage performance.

More people had meters installed and were taking more care over water consumption.

Thames said it was fixing a leak every five minutes in a major programme that would meet Ofwat leakage targets for the year. It is also on target to meet next year's requirement if the winter weather is not too harsh.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.