Welsh Water has confirmed that it is to give a £32 million boost to its customers.

The additional funding has been made available by the non-profit company to go towards projects aimed at benefiting its customers, as the firm announced its results.

The £32 million figure is the equivalent of the dividends paid by other companies to its shareholders, but because of the firm’s ownership model, this surplus is put back into expenditure that will see customers reap the benefits.

The cash will be used to give extra financial help for customers having difficulties paying their bills; to invest in more renewable energy generation schemes, improve services for areas suffering persistent water supply problems, and to contribute towards the funding of the new Llys y Fran visitor centre in Pembrokeshire.

The £32 million sum will boost the firm’s existing £1.7 billion capital investment scheme for the next four year spell, and comes in off the back of a series of positive results for the water firm.

During the year, Welsh Water posted an £18 million underlying profit, with operating costs just shy of £300 million and capital expenditure of £279 million.

Robert Ayling, Chairman at Welsh Water, said that he was proud and pleased to be able to report the great shape the company is in after his 15 years of ownership, in both financial and operational terms.

He said that the primary purpose of the firm is to produce the highest possible standards for customers at the lowest possible price. He believes that the firm’s non-shareholder ownership model is able to deliver that.

Chris Jones, Chief Executive, said that the firm’s unique model of ownership enables them to use funds that would otherwise be paid to shareholders to benefit its customers.

He says that this helps reduce costs, which in turn brings down the cost of customer bills and generates more energy on the firm’s own sites.