Warrington-headquartered water company United Utilities has hailed its strong half-year performance and said it made "significant progress" during the period.
For the six months to 30 September 2016, revenue was down "as expected" from £857m to £853m reflecting the accounting impact of United Utilities' Water Plus joint venture which launched in June.
Pre-tax profit also fell from £215m to £158m, with the company having been hit by a £19m increase in underlying net finance expense.
However, operating profit was up from £278m to £304m.
Steve Mogford, chief executive of United Utilities, remained upbeat saying: "This has been a strong first half performance in which we made significant progress towards meeting our customer, environmental and financial targets.
"The acceleration of our capital investment programme continues to deliver early customer service and operational benefits.
"We have invested £383m in the first half of this year and remain on track to invest around £800m for the full year.
"Overall, we are encouraged by our progress in the early part of this regulatory period. We have a robust financial position and are confident that we can deliver our targets for both customers and shareholders."