Aguas Nuevo Sur posts US$1.36mn Jan-Sep. profit

Chile's Region VII water utility Aguas Nuevo Sur posted an 817mn-peso (US$1.36mn) net profit in the first nine months of the year, reversing a 1.47bn-peso net loss in the same period last year. For the period, revenue grew 4.32% to 11.6bn pesos due to start up of new wastewater treatment plants and operating profit rose 31.6% to 4.02bn pesos, the latter of which was also helped by lower administrative and sales costs, Aguas said in a filing to the country's securities regulator (SVS). In 2003, Aguas Nuevo Sur posted a 2.33bn-peso net loss compared to a 2.08bn-peso net loss the year before. The UK's Thames Water controls Aguas Nuevo Sur that serves 619,000 residents with 99.7% drinking water coverage and 93.8% sewage collection coverage, while wastewater treatment stands at 23.8%.