Comment by jimnotgym

> Are these profits more or less than the interest to bondholders you'd otherwise be paying?

Apparently rather more

"Earlier this year, Corporate Watch calculated that £2 billion a year could be saved – or £80 per household – if the water supply was in public ownership. The government can borrow much cheaper than the companies and there would be no private shareholders demanding their dividends"

The research is cited in the document if you would like to critique

https://corporatewatch.org/the-severn-trent-takeover-corpora...