Scottish Power, the UK-based utility, has managed to offload Southern Water, the business it has been trying to sell for a year, at £300m (€487m) more than it would have got if it had pushed ahead with plans to securitise the revenues.

The company sold Southern Water to First Aqua, a company specially formed to buy the business, for £2bn. The securitisation would have resulted in £1.9bn of borrowings, releasing proceeds of £1.7bn once cash reserves and expenses are deducted.